A Witch, A Wizard And A Mechanic (Reimagined)
by RhysThornbery
Summary: What if Sirius Black had been more cautious approaching Harry before 3rd year? How might Harry's life have changed for that one simple divergence in his path? A reimagining of A Witch, A Wizard And A Mechanic. Starts out fairly different but expect similarities. Rated T to start. Additional warnings in first author's note.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So, here we are. Taking another kick at the old can that is A Witch, A Wizard And A Mechanic. Just a heads up, this will start out VERY different from the previous version, so be prepared. Now then what to expect from this fic, or rather the WARNINGS. There will likely be at least some mild (by my standards) bashing of Ron and Molly. So if that's a deal breaker I guess this is your stop right here. Dumbledore will be fairly manipulative, leaning towards the 'Evil/GreaterGood!' Dumbledore end of the spectrum. There will be clichés as I am of the opinion that including some is not necessarily a bad thing. For the moment things will stay rated T for the most part with maybe a scene here or there leaning a bit more M rated. I can't promise what timescale I'll be working on with updates but will do my best to keep updating consistently. ALSO: Just figured I'd let you know I posted a proof of concept chapter for a story idea I had.

 **Update:** Edited and updated somewhat as of Oct.22.2019. Some changes may be in effect.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't really know that it needs saying. But I do not, repeat, DO NOT, own Harry Potter. Anything you can identify as being specific to the published series written by JKR is obviously hers. I don't make any money of this either way. Anything relating to other series that I reference obviously belongs to it's respective creator. Only original characters and ideas belong to me. Again, it's not like I make any money off it though. This will probably be the one time I post a disclaimer.

 **Reviews:** Deeply appreciated but not by any means mandatory. Please keep this simple tenant in mind should you wish to review. Please be courteous, as in please show the base modicum of civil courtesy you would show a complete stranger. And finally, while constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. And if you feel the need to be harsh, well at least have the common courtesy to provide the means for me to address your concerns by signing in before reviewing. Thank you.

* * *

 **The Night Of August 6th-August 7th 2013:**

It was not a good night to be wandering alone in the dark. It had rained earlier that day, making things damp, and caused a sort of hushed quiet to fall over Little Whinging. The pall cast by the dark clouds still lingered overhead, making it darker than would perhaps be usual for Surrey at this time of year. To make matters worse, a fog was rising, further lowering visibility.

Nevertheless, that was the position the godson of Sirius Black, one Harry James Potter, found himself in after blowing up his foul aunt. Not as in the 'Boom!' and meaty chunks of the woman raining down on his other relatives, kind of blown up. Though that would have been more satisfying in a grim sort of way. No, as in the inflated, blown up 'like a balloon' kind. Not that Sirius Black would have blamed the boy he was tailing in the least if it had been the former. He'd overheard some of the vile things the woman had been saying that evening. In his place, he wouldn't have reacted much better than his godson had.

What Sirius was doing was foolish he supposed. What was he thinking, lurking here in the dark, trailing the kid? What could he possibly do when it really came down to it? Oh he supposed in a pinch he could use the canine form he was currently inhabiting to defend the lad should worse come to worst. But he desperately wished to approach instead, though he had no idea what he would possibly say to him.

'Hi Harry, I'm Sirius Black, I'm actually your godfather even though I look like a raving lunatic! Oh and I totally didn't betray your family to their death's like everyone has likely told you, trust me!' Yeah, that'd probably not go over too well with the kid…

The kid in question was nervous enough already, he could tell, dog's senses being much sharper than a human's generally. He could smell the fear the boy was exuding following the incident back at Privet Drive. More, he could actually hear Harry's laboured breath, worried mutterings and even his racing heartbeat during quiet moments where the boy had paused to choose a direction.

Mostly the lad was worried about the consequences of using his magic so. At least judging by his muttered thoughts he was. Sirius wished he could comfort the kid, but laying aside the issues he had already pondered, he wasn't sure he could honestly allay any of his fears. After all the Ministry was notoriously inconsistent in the way it meted out justice. His own case proved that well enough, didn't it?

Sirius was still reflecting on these things as the boy finally slowed to a stop and took a break from dragging his heavy school trunk, leaning himself against a low garden wall and looking about. The tired and worried muttering resumed and he watched the lad run a shaking hand back through his unkempt hair roughly in a way which was painfully reminiscent of his father.

"No Muggle money … " Harry muttered, "Could hit Gringotts I suppose … What's a little more magic after all? Could magic the trunk —" He trailed off darkly, and Sirius winced. He couldn't easily follow the boy into Diagon Alley, not without risking getting caught anyway. Harry himself would almost certainly be waylaid by the Aurors if he went there.

He watched as the boy nervously looked around before opening his trunk and rifling through it. Had he been in human form he would have grimaced, something else was making Harry nervous, it was all there for someone with a little knowledge and skill to see. He wondered if Harry had noted his pursuit, he hadn't meant to make the lad more nervous than he already was after all…He pondered that, then tested it stepping a little more into the alleyway from which he was observing the lad.

Harry almost immediately stiffened, he could even see the hairs on the boys neck go up and Sirius sighed quietly. He watched as Harry straightened and looked about alertly. If this kept on he was going to spook him, he didn't want that, who knew what Harry would do if he was even more scared than he already was?

He could back off he supposed, or … he could reveal himself. Carefully of course. He settled on his haunches before nodding, deciding to give the second option a try. At the very least he could get a read on his friend's son. He shifted back to human form and watched as Harry who had returned his attention to the trunk straightened again, gripping his wand tightly.

Sirius cleared his throat and spoke. "You won't need your wand, I promise you, I won't hurt you." He said, wincing slightly at the way his voice rasped after so long barely being used.

The boy started his wand coming up and igniting at a muttered spell, Sirius didn't move merely letting the light fall on him and squinting at the bright light. "Gah, way to turn on the high beams kiddo."

Harry's eyes widened and he almost took a step back, but stopped, perhaps his brain finally had caught up with what had been said. "Who are you, I —" He stopped. "Hang on, I recognize you, you were on the teli!" He snapped, his wand tip staying firmly fixed on the man sitting against the garage near him.

Sirius chuckled darkly, "Yes I suppose I would be, not surprising given what they think I did." He admitted, testing what the boy had heard.

"They said you were a murderer." Harry murmured darkly, eyeing him suspiciously.

Sirius grimaced at that, well the bobbies were another group he'd have to look out for he guessed. Shame that. He turned his attention back to the youth in front of him, "They're wrong, but can be forgiven I suppose, not even the wizarding world knows the truth about what happened that night. Not that they tried too hard to find out …"

The boy scowled. "What? So you're innocent, is that it? I'm pretty sure most escaped criminals claim that."

Another dry rasping chuckle made it past Sirius' lips at that. "Yeah I suppose they do, not that many escape Azkaban. None before me that I know of actually." He mused, thinking on that. The boy was sharp he'd give him that. Though he suspected the suspicious side of him hadn't come about from any training, rather from learning the hard way not to trust people.

"Azkaban?" Harry asked shortly, his wand still not wavering from where it was pointed at his face.

Sirius shivered thinking of the location in question. "It's the wizarding world's prison, here in Britain at least, and my…residence for the last twelve and a half years. Nasty place." He supplied making no move aside from leaning his head back against the wall briefly.

"And why are you here, following me then?" Harry asked eyeing him darkly, with eyes which were painfully similar to Lily's.

Here the former prisoner smiled ruefully, "Watching your back actually, as I should have been all along. Saw you blow up your aunt and make a run for it by the way, figured I should make sure you didn't run into any trouble. Good job with that, she had it coming."

"Why?" Harry asked shortly, at Sirius' querying eyebrow he elaborated. "What am I to you, why do you care what happens to me?" That made his godfather wince once more, so Harry truly had no idea who he was or what his relation to him was. That stung in a number of ways.

"Because I swore to your parents I'd look after you if anything happened to them." He saw Harry's eyes widen, and nodded soberly. "Not that I did a good job of it. Screwed it up right away in fact."

The boy was shaking now. "Who are you, and how did you know my parents?"

The older wizard looked at his hands tiredly before fixing his eyes on Harry's again. "My name is Sirius Black. As to how I know — knew, your parents, that is a very long story. But the short version was that I was their friend."

The boy blinked at him numbly, shifting just a touch closer. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"You don't," Sirius admitted calmly. "In fact most of the wizarding world would tell you without hesitation to not trust me and run for your life. But I didn't attack you earlier did I? And I'm just sitting here letting you point a wand at me without resistance." He pointed out reasonably.

"Why are you talking to me then? What do you want?" Harry asked eventually, after allowing his eyes to skate over the man across from him. A small amount of the suspicion having ebbed away. It was a start at least.

"Just to see how you're doing, just to check and ensure you are alright." He stated plainly, running his own hand slowly back through his messy hair. Then shrugged. "Maybe so I could tell you my side of things if you want to hear it." he allowed, it had after all been a vague hope in the back of his mind. "Beyond that? I don't know. Not sure what I can really tell you."

The boys green eyes, which still reminded him of Lily's watched him uncertainly. "You want me to hear your story? Surely a policeman or whatever would be better if you're really innocent like you claim?"

Sirius chuckled ruefully. Merlin just how much had they been withholding from the lad? "The Aurors, wizarding police if you were curious, who arrested me barely questioned me kid. They threw me in prison without a trial. No, going to them would just about be a sure fire way to get myself kissed."

That produced an understandable look of confusion from Harry which was positively comical. "Kissed?"

"By a Dementor," He clarified, "One of the creatures that guard Azkaban. They call the process of those monsters sucking out your soul and eating it, the Dementor's Kiss." He noted bitterly, thinking of the euphemism and the creatures in question. Harry shivered at the thought of what he'd just described. "As for why you? Well, you're James and Lily's kid, even if I have to spend the rest of my life on the run I need you to know the truth about what happened."

The boy was silent for a while looking at him stoically, "Look, why don't you turn off the light and I'll move into the light by that post there. No sense blinding me or drawing the Muggles' attention eh?" He suggested.

Harry nodded slowly, and gestured with his wand, and Sirius pushed to his feet slowly before stiffly shuffling a few feet over to lean against the light standard near the mouth of the alley. His joints still ached from so long spent in his small cell in Azkaban. It was only as he leaned himself against the pole that Harry finally nodded and countered the light charm.

Nodding his thanks, Sirius settled down onto the ground again. Harry nodded slowly, "Alright, what's your story then. I'll hear you out, but I won't promise anything else."

"Fair enough," Sirius said tiredly. "Just give me a minute to figure out where to start, okay?"

The boy nodded and leaned against the garden wall patiently still not quite taking his wand off him. Eventually Sirius found a place to begin and started speaking. "Back in school, your father, myself, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, were friends. We called ourselves the Marauders, in many ways we were as close as brothers." He said smiling wistfully at the memories. It was good to be able to think of them without the Dementors sucking the enjoyment from him. Then another thought occurred to him as he watched Harry absorb that. "Actually your grandfather all but adopted me as an unofficial Potter after I ran away from home. So in a way I was a brother to James…" He noted smiling fondly at the memory.

"Why did you run away?" Harry asked, his eyes suddenly alight with interest.

Sirius considered how to explain it without getting into the ugly details. "My parents were … not nice people Harry, my mother more than my father. He was stern and distant, but she was violent, abusive and above all a bigot of the highest order." He said scowling at recalling those last couple years in his family's company. "I was very grateful when Charlus took me in."

"That was my Grandfather's name?"

Sirius blinked at Harry, momentarily stunned, how could it be the lad didn't even know his grandfather's name? "Yes, and your grandmother was called Dorea. She was my great aunt actually. So technically I guess that means we're distantly related."

He sighed as Harry processed that and stretched a bit, "Anyway, as I was saying we were friends back in the day, and when we eventually grew up and left Hogwarts your father and I worked together. He was my best friend, a brother like I said. Unfortunately the war was on at that point … I'll uh, spare you some of those details for now, maybe I'll tell you another time, but they're not really important at the moment." Harry nodded his understanding, for which Sirius was grateful.

"Something happened, though I don't know what it was personally, and someone determined Voldemort was after your family and a couple others for some reason. You were sent into hiding." He explained patiently and Harry watched him avidly, Sirius fought the urge to smile at the way his wand was no longer so carefully pointed his way. "Do you know what the Fidelius is?"

A shake of the head was his answer. "Its a method of concealing a location magically making it invisible and even erasing the knowledge of its existence from people's minds. Then storing the secret in a person's mind. That person can then dispense the secret to those who need it. Though those told can't tell anyone else on their own." He saw Harry understood and continued. "The charm has a weakness though, the secret has to be held by a third party. A secret keeper. Don't ask me why, because honestly I don't know. Magic crafting was never my specialty."

He scratched his jaw tiredly, feeling a modicum of disgust at the greasy grizzled feeling of the hair in his fingers. "Point is this was the method used to hide your family and it was nearly the perfect system to protect you. Unfortunately we made a mistake. We cast the spell, Dumbledore himself overseeing the original process. I was to be the secret keeper as your father's best friend." He grimaced, and sighed feeling the tears already starting to form in his eyes and dashing them away irritably. "But we got ahead of ourselves, over thought it and came up with a clever ploy. At least that's what we thought." He remarked bitterly.

"We thought that as it was a certainty I would be the first guess for being the secret keeper, we should change it in secret. So we did, passing the secret from myself to our friend Peter Pettigrew." He sighed, "We didn't know it then, but Peter had turned traitor. He sold out you and your parents to Voldemort."

He would be hard pressed to describe and identify all the emotions flowing over his godson's face. "He betrayed them? He was their friend and he betrayed them?"

Sirius nodded, seeing the outrage and anger in the boy's face. "Yes, he did, though here is where we come to my own mistakes and how I ended up in Azkaban. I arrived at your home, pulled you from the wreckage, and met Hagrid, he told me Dumbledore had sent him to secure your safety. I was so angry though! I knew what must have happened, that Peter must have turned on us, and with Dumbledore handling your safety for the moment, I thought I had a chance to hunt the rat down." Harry nodded numbly in understanding.

"I tracked him down a while later, in Manchester, I confronted him in the middle of a busy street, like a fool. He had been playing me though, he knew all along I'd be hunting him, that I'd want to make him pay for what he'd done." Sirius admitted, regret aching inside him. "He shouted out to the street, accusing me, loud and clear to all who could hear, of betraying your parents. Then quite deliberately, mocking me the whole time, cut off his own finger and fired an explosive hex at the street, igniting a gas main. It killed several muggles and knocked the living daylights out of me…He changed forms and ran for it. Taking shelter in the sewer as a rat."

Here he sighed, feeling weary and defeated.

"The Aurors showed up before I'd regained my senses and found a bunch of dead muggles, me unconscious and Peter's finger. Everyone around relayed just what Peter had accused me of, and as the Aurors already suspected me of being the traitor, seeing as last anyone knew I was the secret keeper. So I was hauled away, no trial, no real questioning, when I finally came to I was in Ministry custody and nobody would listen when I tried to tell them what had really happened. I spent twelve and a half years in Azkaban…until I escaped."

Harry stared at him wide eyed, and Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry you know? In a way it's my fault you were living with those people…" Here he paused and scowled, considering that. Why would Harry have gone there of all places?

"What?" Harry asked, seeing his expression no doubt.

"Hmm?" Sirius said inarticulately before realizing what his godson was asking. "Oh sorry, just reflecting is all. It's a bit odd, your mum and her sister never got along all that well, I'm surprised she arranged for you to go there…"

Harry, blinked. "She didn't, at least I don't think she did?"

"Wouldn't it have said in their will?" Sirius asked, curious.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know, don't know that they had a will. Dumbledore just says that it's the safest place for me."

That brought the older wizard up short. "That's odd. I—I don't know what to make of that. James always said I'd be looking after you, but that obviously fell apart when I got arrested. I would have thought there would have been others before Petunia though."

Harry considered him for a while. "Let's say—Let's say I believe you. What now?"

Sirius felt a little better knowing that he had Harry at least tentatively believing him. "I don't know Harry," He saw Harry's disbelieving look and explained. "Look, I'm a wanted man, if things were different, I'd try to take you in as I was supposed to, but…" He shrugged. "As it is I'll be lucky to keep from getting thrown back in jail. And that's if I'm lucky."

His godson nodded, a bitter expression twisting his face. "It figures that I wouldn't be able to live with the person my parents wanted me to…even when he's free." He grimaced, then shot him an uncertain look. "And there's no way you can prove you're innocent?"

Smiling thinly Sirius shook his head. "Not that I can see. Traditionally a defendant provides their memories or a testimony under truth serum, but I think just about anyone I could approach would kill me on sight if they could."

He had expected that to be the end of it, and for Harry to accept that there was nothing they could do. Though he was gratified that Harry seemed at least willing to believe him. Harry however was looking at him calculatingly, pursuing the problem with all the single-mindedness and determination a stubborn teenager his age could muster. "Just about anyone?"

Sirius chuckled, he recognized that stubborn expression well enough. James had worn it often enough after all. Usually when pondering the conundrum that was Lily Evans. "Yeah, I mean I think given half a chance I could talk Moony around, but they wouldn't listen to him anymore than they would to me. Maybe Amy under the right circumstances…"

"Moony, Amy?" Harry asked quickly.

He chuckled, realizing Harry likely wouldn't know them by those monikers, if at all. "Nicknames. Remus Lupin who was also your dad's friend, and Amelia Bones, my old girlfriend."

Harry watched him stoically. "Why wouldn't they listen to Moony or her?"

"Well, they might listen to Amy I suppose, she is an Auror after all, but— Well I'd be surprised if she'd want to see me ever again considering everyone believes me a traitor." Sirius pointed out.

"What if it was me asking?" Harry intoned quietly. "I mean, I know I'm not exactly on the laws good side right now but…"

That once again brought his godfather up short. It had possibilities…why hadn't he thought of that?

"Uh…Well I imagine Amelia would listen to you. I'm surprised she wasn't one of the ones you were lined up to stay with after me…" Sirius stuttered a bit.

Harry eyed him stoically. "Look, if you're really innocent…then it's wrong that you're being hunted, and I—You said you'd never even had a trial. If I can get you that much by talking with somebody? Then I should, right?"

Sirius reflected on the character of his old flame. What Amy had been doing with him, he'd never understood. She'd always been a bit of a stickler for justice and rules, while he and the rules could barely look each other in the eye. Especially back in the day. Him not getting a trial…well. Maybe she'd just accepted it before because she'd assumed he was guilty like everyone else? The possibility she'd hadn't believed in him back then stung, but —

"Well, I can't say I don't like the idea of being free a great deal." Sirius admitted chuckling. "If you want to give it a shot, I'll tell you what to do. But you have to realize, you may still be in trouble for what happened with that woman right?"

Harry paused briefly considering that, before shrugging. "If I'm in trouble, then I'm in trouble. At least this way I might be able to do something worthwhile…" the lad paused before looking at him questioningly. "If I do this, how would I go about it?"

Sirius sat and pondered that, his admittedly somewhat foggy mind, latching onto the promise of potential freedom like a drowning man to a raft. It took a few minutes but between the two of them they were able to come up with a rather simple set of possible solutions.

Sirius found it harder than he'd expected parting company with his Godson. Still, he was pleased with how well their reunion had gone. He had very little in the way of hope that freedom would soon be his, but at the very least he'd gotten the chance to speak with Harry.

* * *

Amelia Bones, bumped the door to the offices of the DMLE open with her hip, her hands otherwise occupied. One of them holding her briefcase and newspaper. It really was far too early in the morning in truth, but she had work to catch up on, so the other hand with taking a sip from her rather large coffee.

As almost any good copper can tell you, coffee is the lifeblood upon which the justice system is founded. It is the means by which police officers everywhere survive long nights on stakeout, chasing down leads or simply going over paperwork. Without coffee many an officer would soon devolve into a quivering pool of misery or go off their rocker after one too many nasty cases. Amelia had been an Auror long enough that she could no longer rely on the standard cup of the stuff to get her going in the morning, or avert the ever looming meltdown.

So here she was, bolstered by her extra-big cup of joe, nodding her thanks to the Auror, her subordinate, who quickly held the door open for her before heading on towards the front desk, manned by a fairly ubiquitous middle aged female desk sergeant.

"Any urgent notices for me today Alice?" Amelia asked the woman who looked up from her own paperwork.

The woman shrugged, straightening her horn rimmed glasses before speaking, "Hey boss—nope, nothing critical, word from your assistant is that you have a visitor waiting for you, but I can't say I know much about that myself." She replied in a fairly thick Yorkshire accent. "Other than that? We've got two teams out right now investigating potential sightings of Black out near the Isle of Wight."

That last bit brought her up short,"When you say 'near' the Isle of Wight…"

Alice smirked in amusement, "Seems someone thought they spotted him rowing his way to France in a dingy out there last night. Though how they could tell it might have been him in the dark like that I have no clue."

Amelia rolled her eyes at that, otherwise maintaining a carefully neutral expression at the reference to Sirius Black. It was…not easy, hearing his name, even after all these years. She'd never wanted to believe he'd done what he was accused of, but after multiple rebuffed attempts to get in to talk to him, to ask him why, she'd forced herself to accept that it was the truth.

"Mad-Eye beat you in, but I expect it'll be another half-hour at least before Scrimgeour shows," Alice continued oblivious to the small eddy of disquiet which had swirled through her boss' mind.

Amelia nodded, grumbling in acknowledgement. That was about the usual around here. Mad-Eye, crazy old coot that he was, had no life save that which revolved around being an Auror these days. What he'd do when he was eventually forced to retire she didn't know, but she would bet it wouldn't be pretty. Then again there was the small chance he'd pull his head out of his arse and approach Pomphrey again after all these years, but she wasn't optimistic.

As for Scrimgeour…he wasn't a bad man per se, but he lacked the moral fortitude she preferred in her Aurors. He struggled to keep himself clean and clear of the politicking which sometimes washed through the Department. Not the sort to show up early unless he absolutely had to, but then again he rarely had need to in the first place. His responsibilities were not such that he found himself backlogged on paperwork liaising with the various other departments of the Ministry as he did.

"Alright," Amelia said, huffing a sigh. "Well, I'll go see to this visitor then, whomever it is, and then we'll see about getting everyone together for a meeting. Just make sure everyone is up to date on things."

Alice nodded, "Sound's good boss. I'll make sure the conference room is clear."

With that Amelia made her goodbyes and started winding her way back through the office bullpen, nodding to a couple of the other unfortunates who were in this early. Waking one poor soul who had fallen asleep at his desk to urge him to return home or at least grab some proper shut eye on a bed in the bunk rooms.

She reached the elevator on the far end of the floor just as an Auror Trainee was, causing her to hold the door for the younger witch. A young woman, with fluorescent pink hair and a heart shaped face, Nymphadora Tonks was both an unholy terror and exceptional asset to the Auror corps. It was proof positive that Tonks, as she preferred to be known, was a newbie, as she was bouncing happily on her heels while blowing bubbles with her gum without a cup of coffee in her hands despite the early hour of the day.

"In early this morning, Trainee?" Amelia greeted smiling wryly at the woman while pushing the button to her floor.

Tonks blushed, an impressive display considering the woman's peculiar abilities. "Figured I'd get some paperwork out of the way. Not that I wasn't eager to make a run for it anyways ma'am. Mum was on a tear this morning."

Amelia snorted in amusement, it made sense that the only one who could ride herd over Tonks would be the woman's own mother, a rather intimidating master healer called Andromeda. Amelia had come to know, as any who had been around healers enough, that you messed with a medical professional at your peril.

The elevator reached her floor and Amelia stepped out, calling out to Tonks over her shoulder. "Have a good day Trainee."

"You as well boss," she heard behind her as she started making her way through the corridors to her office, eventually coming to a surprisingly plain door behind which she found her office. Again, one of the Auror guards on duty held open the door for her.

"Morning Savage," she greeted, nodding to the witch in question.

"Morning ma'am," Auror Ellen Savage greeted in reply.

At the sound of voices her personal assistant looked up from her notes and smiled tiredly at her, hands firmly fixed around a large mug of her own black coffee elixir. The woman certainly looked like she needed it, judging by the tired shadows around her eyes. Not unexpected she supposed, everyone had long hours with Black on the loose.

"Morning Kelly," She greeted.

"Morning madam Director," the young woman said formally. While the two of them were friendly, Amelia had never managed to convince the other witch to drop the honourifics while on duty.

"Anything I need to know about this morning?" the Director asked.

The woman nodded, "Two things of note ma'am, though they're related."

At her expectant look Kelly pulled out a sheet of paper and looked it over quickly, "Bit of a kerfuffle last night ma'am, bout of accidental magic out in Little Whinging Surrey. Magical reversal squad had to be called in. They've got it well contained, but as it so happens your guest is the kid responsible. Already sent the notification to Mafalda, no sense having her lot hunting for the lad if he's already here right?" she said with a pointed nod towards the waiting area across the room.

Amelia turned to regard to area's sole occupant and blinked in surprise. Sitting there staring quietly into space was a smallish boy with messy black hair and startling green eyes. Just like James and Lily, she thought with a dull ache in her chest.

She swallowed thickly for a moment before turning to her assistant, to confirm her initial impression. "Is that who I think it is?"

Kelly smiled tiredly. "Yes ma'am, it is. He says he has something important to discuss with you. Saw no harm in letting him wait for you to get in. Your schedule's usually pretty clear this time of day."

Well, that certainly explained why Kelly had allowed a visitor in to see her so easily. Kelly had a soft spot for kids, and add to that just who this particular youth was, and she understood the woman's choice under the circumstances.

Nodding sharply she turned back to considering the lad who had finally seemed to notice her presence and was looking at her curiously. "Of course, good job Kelly. I'll see him momentarily."

Straightening herself out a bit, as much as was possible anyway, before moving across the room towards the boy. Harry, upon seeing her approach stumbled tiredly to his feet to greet her. It was only then that she noticed he had not only his Hogwarts school trunk with him but his owl as well. A gorgeous snowy who peered at her intelligently from its cage.

"Good Morning Mister Potter," she said, trying to ignore just how much of her lost friends she could see in his face. "My assistant tells me you have something important to tell me. Why don't you come to my office and we'll discuss it?"

"Er—yes ma'am, thank you ma'am," he stuttered, before pausing, "Um—can I leave my trunk and Hedwig here?"

Hedwig, she assumed from the context had to be his owl. She also couldn't help but notice how uneasy and uncertain he seemed. "Of course, just a moment." She agreed turning to her assistant again. "Kelly would you be so good as to watch over Mister Potter's things while we have our little meeting?"

The woman bobbed her head in agreement, "Of course, Madam Director."

With a little encouragement Harry wheeled his belongings over to the woman who stowed it all behind her desk, then followed Amelia into her office.

It was not a terribly impressive place, her office, not by Ministry standards anyways. It was decorated in dark woods and finely upholstered furniture, but it wasn't terribly large. Add to that that almost every surface was cluttered with the detritus of her work and it wasn't very comfortable all things considered. There was a large map of the British Isles behind her desk on the wall surrounded by mugshots of those on their current most wanted list. In the corner by the window overlooking the Ministry's central plaza was her owl which was dozing on its perch.

Hurriedly tidying away her things, she placed her mug on her desk before clearing some things off one of her chairs so that Harry might sit. When he hesitated she smiled reassuringly at him, "Why don't you take a seat Mister Potter?"

He did so, appearing to appreciate how comfortable it was as he relaxed into it. Finally, once she was certain he was situated she leaned forward in her own chair, resting her forearms on the desk, and spoke,"now then, what brings you here today Mister Potter?"

"Er—just Harry please." Harry offered after a moment's hesitation.

She nodded slightly. "Harry it is then," she agreed before cocking her head at him slightly. "Am I right in supposing you are here about your little incident in Little Whinging last night?"

He blinked in surprise, before nodding cautiously. "Yes," he agreed before stopping and frowning, "Well sort of, it's all related really…" he said wringing his hands a little in his nervousness.

"Well why don't we see what we can do to sort this out. I'm sure all things considered we can get this handled without too much trouble," she said, doing her best to reassure the boy, while pulling out a notepad.

"That sounds good ma'am, er—ma'am?" He stuttered, "It was suggested I ask you to help me provide a memory for you to—um, review."

She blinked in surprise at that, "A memory? Who—" She shook her head. "Typically pensieve memories are only required for more serious cases Harry, not for bouts of accidental magic."

He seemed uncertain to her eyes but nodded nonetheless. "Okay, but I still think I should show you. It'll be easier than explaining. Er—do you know how to do this ma'am, because I have to admit I have no idea where to begin."

She considered that, wondering just who had counselled the boy to request the use of a pensieve, and why. "Yes, I know how Mister—Harry…" she said, as she mulled that over, before nodding. "Alright, yes we can do that."

She reached into the lowest drawer of her desk, the one warded to protect the precious artifact this procedure would require. She drew out the bowl like construct and set it on its stand in the middle of the desk.

"This is a pensieve. In case it wasn't explained to you, it holds a person's memory so that it can be viewed in person, or as a projection," she informed him stepping out from behind her desk. "Now, so as not to alarm you, I'm telling you I need to pull out my wand, alright?"

He nodded a little more certainly and she pulled it out and stepped up beside him. "Now, the way this works is you have to focus on the memories in question as best you can, then I'll use a spell to draw off a copy which I can deposit into the pensieve for viewing. Do you think you can do that?"

Harry paused considering, "How carefully do I need to remember? I mean—"

She smiled, understanding his concern, few could remember any event in such detail as to be truly useful. "Just think of the memory in question as best you can the spell will draw out the details on its own."

He seemed somewhat comforted by that and nodded his assent. "Okay, I think I can do that."

She then brought her wand up to his temple, "Okay, now focus on the memories and I'll begin."

Harry clenched his eyes shut, clearly focusing as best he could on what he needed to show her and she murmured the incantation under her breath. "Memento Mori".

It was slow at first, but soon enough she was pulling a goodly strand of memory away from his head until no more would come. "Very good Harry, I think that will be enough," she said ending the spell and watching him relax, opening his eyes.

She drew the memory on the tip of her wand over to the bowl before depositing it in the misty interior which seemed to condense or congeal upon contact into a clear slightly pearlescent liquid.

"Now, do you wish to view this memory with me?" She asked.

He hesitated then shook his head, "Not really ma'am. I mean, there's some not so pleasant stuff in there and I've already had one, er—blow up tonight."

She smiled in understanding. "Very well then, why don't you step outside for a moment. It's not that I don't trust you but it's against policy for me to be…away, while someone is in my office."

He nodded scrambling to his feet surprisingly fast. "Okay ma'am. I'll just er…go then," he said, heading to the door and opening it before slipping out.

Amelia frowned, what was it about this memory that had him so uneasy? Was it whatever happened to cause him to use accidental magic? Was he afraid he was in trouble? It wasn't impossible she supposed, but even Mafalda likely wouldn't set the dogs on him for an accident. Especially if the reversal squad had easily cleaned it up…

Looking to the memory drifting in the bowl she sighed, there really was only one way to find out she supposed. Standing once more behind her desk she placed her hands on either side and lowered her face into the bowl.

She was not prepared for what she saw.

* * *

Amelia staggered slightly as she was ejected back out of the memory, and she had to draw in a couple of steadying breaths, running her hands back through her hair shakily, before she could consider herself properly under control again. That had been…surprising, and very hard to watch, for a number of reasons.

It had been difficult to view right from the start, watching the way her old friend's child had been so badly mistreated by his relatives, and Amelia vowed to look into the matter more closely. Although she had to admit she found it oddly refreshing to be running down a case herself, instead of delegating it to a subordinate.

She'd never admit it of course, but she'd felt a bit of guilty satisfaction when he'd inflated that odious woman rather spectacularly. She certainly understood Harry's initial panic however, especially considering she knew of the existing warning on his record.

She had even assumed the memory was nearing its end, shaking her head at the foolishness of youth as Harry took off into the night, and had prepared to be ejected from the memory, only for it to continue despite her expectations.

So she followed the retreating boy at a brisk pace, watching him carefully to see what might have instigated his need to include this portion of the memory. She had noticed his increasing agitation and wondered what had caught his attention.

Only to be shocked, as Harry had been, when a certain escapee from Azkaban had shown his face.

That had been the hardest portion to watch. Amelia had investigated cases of child abuse before, but she had not been prepared to come face to face, so to speak with Sirius Black.

She'd felt a chill run down her spine at the painfully familiar, if somewhat stress roughened, voice of Sirius Black sounding from behind her, whirling and freezing the playback to find her one time friend—and more—standing there patiently watching the lad.

Sirius Orion Black, she had examined his ravaged face and emaciated frame closely as she paced over to him. His usually jovial attitude, which she had remembered with a pang in her chest, was gone, replaced by this gaunt spectre.

It was hard to see him like this, perhaps especially like this. Though, she had to concede as she gazed upon him longer and longer, he could have been a lot worse off than he was. It was peculiar though, why was he so…relaxed. Nowhere to be seen was the lunatic which she'd expected to see. Just what had he been playing at she wondered.

Finally she managed to tear her eyes away from him and resumed the memory's playback and had been shocked to her core by what had followed.

At no point did Sirius move to attack, or even approach Harry. Instead he sat there patiently and told his version of events for that night so long ago. The night so much of her world had come crashing down.

She'd been shocked and appalled, by Sirius' claims that he'd never even received a trial. Part of her mind had protested, that it couldn't possibly be true, could it? But the rational part of her brain had responded that it could indeed be true at that. The times following the war had been chaotic and confused, a man's trial could easily have been lost in that mess.

Her shock had only doubled when he'd carefully and patiently explained how Harry could safely travel to, and access the Ministry of Magic to approach her. Not only that, but instructing the lad on how to request the use of Pensieve memories.

It had been…hard, listening to him speak of her. She could hardly believe the small note of sorrow and tenderness he had in his voice when he mentioned her name.

Finally, just before the memory ended, he told Harry where he would be waiting for her to approach him. Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack. She was one of only a few people who understood the significance of that building to Sirius.

As she thought back on all that she had seen in the pensieve she took meticulous notes, being careful to leave out her personal feelings on the matters she witnessed. Those were no one's business but her own.

She finally laid down the notebook, taking another moment to steady herself before stepping out from behind her desk and heading to the door. Pulling it open and stepping through, she looked about.

Amelia couldn't help the little smile which quirked her lips as she saw Harry introducing Kelly properly to his familiar. The beautiful snowy owl preening under the attention and affection she was receiving.

It was only when she approached that they looked up and acknowledged her, Harry's eyes suddenly taking on a questioning and worried cast as he looked to her hopefully. Smiling reassuringly she nodded to him, before turning her attention to her assistant, "Kelly, I need you to make a run down to records in person, look for any transcripts or records of Sirius Black's trial and bring them to me," she instructed firmly.

Kelly nodded seriously and pushed to her feet, "I'll see to it immediately Madam Director," she assured her, pausing only briefly to smile at Harry before leaving the room.

"Why don't you come into my office again Harry, and we'll go over a few things?" Amelia suggested once the other woman had departed.

He bobbed his head agreeably and murmured a small goodbye to the owl before moving to follow her.

Once in the office she turned to regard the lad as he stood there eyeing her cautiously. "Now, I suppose the first thing I'll want to do is make sure you haven't been placed under a compulsion or confundus of some kind. Last I knew Sirius—Black, wasn't able to do such a thing wandlessly, but it's best to be careful given what I've just seen."

Harry worried his bottom lip uncertainly, but nodded his understanding. Drawing her wand she approached him. "I'm just going to cast a few detection spells, okay, Harry?"

Receiving his acceptance she began casting, runic sigils drawing themselves in the air as she placed detection spells upon him and began her scans. To her relief, she found that he was apparently entirely clear of any mind altering magics which could be cast wandlessly.

She stood back and considered him thoughtfully as the scans cleared and the sigils faded away. "You show no sign of compulsions, or confounding, which is good. Though I must say it makes things rather more complicated in regards to Sirius I think…"

Pausing, she went over all the relevant information in her head, before looking to him again, "I will, however, be investigating your relatives."

Harry looked decidedly uncomfortable at that declaration. "You don't need to do that ma'am. I'm well shot of them now I suppose—" he mumbled, "I wouldn't want to be a bother."

Amelia fought down the desire to frown. "Free of them or not, Harry, there are other concerns to consider," she said firmly, before pausing and considering how to explain. Harry just stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"Very well, let's be frank then. Have you ever heard of a Witch or Wizard being abused as you were Harry?"

Harry flinched at the bald statement, and looked away, clearly embarrassed. "No," he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

"There's a good reason for that," she said grimacing, "It is extremely dangerous to abuse a young Witch or Wizard. It can have especially dangerous outcomes due to our magic."

She paused, while he absorbed that, then continued. "Even the worst members of our society will generally shy away from abusing a child physically. Though that doesn't mean other sorts of abuse don't occur."

Harry look decidedly uncertain, not knowing where she was going with this. Nevertheless, there was a small curious look in his eyes as he regarded her. "There is a…phenomena—a creature if you will. It's called an Obscurus. It is the manifestation of an abused magical child's powers as they lash out against those who abuse them," she explained patiently. "Very powerful, and very dangerous. They've been known to level whole neighbourhoods and kill dozens if not hundreds of people. It is—speaking plainly now—a miracle that you have not generated such a creature with your magic considering what little I've seen of your treatment at the hands of those…people."

He flinched, and nodded, wide eyed at what she had just described. She pressed on, once assured that he understood. "That is but one reason we must investigate instances of abuse Harry. Do you understand now?"

Harry nodded hurriedly,"Yes, ma'am."

She smiled at him, he was very polite. More than any boy his age she'd met before. "Good. Now, why don't we sit down and I'll go over a few points with you in regards to the memories you showed me. I just need a bit of clarification before we can move forward."

He sat with her, and for the next few minutes they went over details while they waited for Kelly to return. Touching on how he'd felt when that woman had been saying those things, and while running away. She pointed out that she'd noticed his tension even before Sirius had properly revealed himself, and asked if he'd noticed he was being followed.

He had just shaken his head on that last point, "No ma'am, I just had this…weird feeling I guess," he admitted with a shrug, and she surprised him by nodding understanding. She was no stranger to the sort of sixth sense some people developed. Aurors in particular tended to find themselves developing such after long enough in the corps.

It was then that Kelly finally returned, her arrival heralded by a knock at the door. "Enter," Amelia called looking towards the source of the knock.

Kelly looked uncomfortable as she entered, "My apologies Madam Director, I couldn't find any records of the trial. Only a transfer order to Azkaban Prison."

Amelia nodded neutrally, not letting on just what she was feeling as the reality that Sirius had likely never received one at all sank in.

"Very well, then I have a couple things I need you to do for me, Kelly, and I need you to make sure it stays quiet." At the woman's nod she pressed on, "First I want you to find Master Auror Moody—"

* * *

 **Early Morning August 7th 2013:**

The muffled crackle of multiple apparitions could barely be heard over the steady pattering drumroll of the rain, as three figures clad in the red-brown trenchcoats of the Auror Corps arrived in the middle of a disused side street in Hogsmeade.

Amelia looked to one of her companions, a somewhat stooped and hobbled older gentleman with an artificial leg and an electric blue replacement for one of his eyes. "Mad-Eye, seeing any wards or traps?"

He paused allowing that strange orb to rove over the house across from them for a moment before shaking his head. "A basic 'repulsion' ward of some kind, old, but nothing else lass, and our escapee is waiting for you upstairs," he growled after a moment.

She nodded slowly in understanding, considering the implications of that. "I'm the only one he's invited, you and Shack stay back here unless you see us start fighting." She ordered.

A small grumble met this, but Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody nodded acceptance. If she were to guess he was simply uncomfortable with the idea of her heading in without immediate backup.

She cast an eye about over the street around them, and upon seeing no bystanders who might get caught up in things, strode purposefully across the road and up to the front gate.

Pushing the gate of crumbling paint and rotted wood aside she walked carefully up the cracked paving stones out front the house and up to the front door. Here, she paused briefly considering knocking, before deciding against it. She pulled out her wand and tapped it against the lock once, "Alohomora."

The lock clicked in response to the spell and the door swung open, it's hinges creaking ominously in the dim light of morning. She paused only briefly considering the darkness within before stepping through and closing the door behind her with a click. There was no chance that ancient door would hinder Mad-Eye and Shacklebolt any should she need backup.

The house was, speaking plainly, a moldering ruin, the wallpaper peeled in great swaths away from the holes punched in the wall beneath them. She tried to ignore what looked to be large claw marks scratched into most every surface. She knew just what, or rather who, had made those claw marks.

She decided against wasting any more time looking about and raised her voice to call out. "Black, you in here?"

There was a brief pause, "Yeah Amy, I'm up here. Just give me a second." Came a familiar voice from above. A few moments later, after some creaking of boards overhead, a shape appeared on the stairs above her.

"Sorry about the lack of light," Black said conversationally, "Don't have a wand on me. Not that the fixtures in here ever worked all that well. You're looking well Amy." He said this last part as he stepped into a mote of light streaming through a hole in the wall behind her.

For a moment her voice caught in her throat upon seeing her old flame's face again and hearing his voice. It almost physically hurt to see him so, so weathered and drawn, gaunt from the strain of surviving Azkaban. Gone was much of the joyful light in his eyes or the cheerful cast to his face.

To her credit, she collected herself quickly, "Sirius. You held together better than I'd expected."

He allowed a short, rasping bark-like laugh slip past his lips. "If you say so. As you're here, and didn't storm the building with a whole squad of your aurors I'd guess that you spoke with Harry?"

She nodded calmly, "I checked for a record of your trial too, couldn't find anything. That combined with what you told Harry is enough for me to justify bringing you in for a proper questioning under veritaserum. I presume you will cooperate?"

He smirked dryly, and she hated the way his humour failed to light his eyes as it once did, then he nodded. "If you promise I won't get kissed by a Dementor or thrown back in Azkaban without a trial, I will."

She couldn't help it, her eyebrow quirked curiously at him, surprised by the implied trust in that statement. He must have seen it, and interpreted it correctly as he explained a moment later. "I know you Amy, or at least I did, you would never go back on your word once it's been given."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement, oath-breakers were abhorrent to her, something he indeed would know about her. "Very well, I promise you that you'll be handled with all due process. Does that satisfy you?"

He probably understood why she was so careful with her wording, promising only what she could in good conscience deliver, but he nodded acceptance anyways.

"Now, for the sake of appearances, I need to restrain you, will you comply?" She asked formally, reaching for the magical suppression cuffs on her belt.

He stepped forward silently, hesitating briefly, eyeing her uncertainly before placing his wrists together and raising them in front of him. She snapped the cuffs in place around his wrists before stepping up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder, trying not to allow her own internal conflicts show on her face. It felt so wrong to be doing this to him, even now.

"Good, come on Sirius, we'll join the others outside and get you to an interview room." She explained, before guiding him to the door.

As they made their way down the path from the house Mad-Eye and Shack stepped up to meet them and she noticed the amiable way Sirius nodded to both of them. "Kingsley, Mad-Eye," he greeted.

Kingsley nodded silently in return, dark eyes surveying him impassively.

"Black," Alastor grumbled, eyeing him suspiciously. "I really hope you're not just giving us a run around."

Sirius chuckled, "Not this time."

Moody just grunted, before nodding and looking to her for instructions. "Portkey for interview room 1?" She prompted.

Alastor drew a silver ring off his belt before expanding it with a touch from his wand, allowing all four of them to grip it at once.

"One prisoner for interview room 1. Activate." Amelia intoned once everyone had firmly gripped the ring.

There was the characteristic hook behind the navel feeling and they were gone, leaving the abandoned side street to once more descend into silence.

* * *

Harry was stirred from his weary ponderings, while sat in the waiting room to Madam Bones' office, by the sound of someone giving a yelp. He looked up just in time to see a young woman straighten up after nearly tripping through the doorway. Watching in fascination as her hair oscillated through a few different colours before settling down to pink while she glared suspiciously at the door behind her. Harry noticed Kelly appeared amused by all this when he glanced her direction.

Finally however the young woman turned away from the door and regarded him, a bright smile splitting her face and her hair very briefly flaring blue before once again changing back. "Wotcher, Harry Potter right? I'm Tonks!" The young woman greeted, and Harry was struck by the thought that she was likely barely out of school herself, such was her obvious youth.

He nodded a touch cautiously, "Just Tonks?"

She continued to grin brightly at him, "That's right," was her short answer, and he decided to just go with it. After all, it was not the strangest name he'd heard in the Wizarding world.

"Okay," he replied, nodding understanding.

"Great," She said, clapping her hands together, "Now, the boss lady - Madam Bones to you - asked me to escort you, if you're willing, to Saint Mungo's. She just wants to run you through a general check up. Make sure you're alright and all that."

Harry winced, he didn't like the idea of going to a hospital all told. Tonks apparently saw his expression as she chuckled, "I know, I don't like going to see a healer either, but—" She said giving him a lopsided smile. "The boss feels it's likely important, and who are we to argue, right?"

He couldn't help the small smile which tugged his lips at her irreverent attitude and nodded acceptance. She beamed happily at him in return, "Great! You know how to floo I assume?"

Again Harry winced, but he bobbed his head in agreement. "Yes, I'm not very good at it though." He hedged.

A snort of amusement met this statement, "That's okay kiddo, I'm not either." She confided giving him a small wink. "Come along, we'll use the dispatch room's floo to get there. My mum's on duty today at the hospital. We'll be going to see her. Bonesy thought you might like her a bit more than some of the others, or the medic we have on duty here right now."

Harry had no clue as to why that might be the case, but saw no reason to dispute her assertion either. "What about my things?" He asked indicating his trunk and Hedwig's cage.

Tonks paused considering that, chewing her lip thoughtfully, "Any problem with leaving them here for Kelly to watch over?" She asked.

Harry considered that for a moment, "Are we coming back here after?"

She nodded, "Yup, that's the plan." She said, popping her lips slightly on the P in 'yup'.

He nodded slowly, "Okay—assuming Kelly is okay with that?" He said before looking over at the woman in question, who nodded in return.

"That's fine Harry, shouldn't be too much trouble, an owl is actually a bit easier than Madame Bones' fish. You would be surprised how hard it can be to keep them alive." She assured him, indicating a fish tank resting against the far wall..

Tonks smiled, nodding her thanks to the other woman, before gesturing for Harry to follow her, waiting for him to get to his feet first. Once outside the room, she led him through the hallways back to the set of lifts he'd ridden up earlier. Again, as they were riding down a couple floors, Harry observed her hair shift colours several times, and he felt his curiosity get the better of him.

"How are you doing that?" He asked, indicating her hair when she looked to him questioningly.

"Hm? Oh, the hair! I'm a metamorph Harry, means I can shift my appearance any way I want to." She informed him.

He blinked in surprise, that was quite unlike anything he'd ever heard about. "That must be handy," he ventured after a moment.

This seemed to throw her for some odd reason before she snorted in amusement and ruffled his hair fondly. "It can be, true enough. Can also be a bit of a pain in the arse too actually. Forget just how long your legs are supposed to be and you spend your entire day tripping over them." She told him as they entered the dispatch room and she started over towards the floos.

Here she paused and turned to regard him seriously. "Alright, address is 'Saint Mungo's Reception' okay?" She said, making sure he'd heard her clearly. "You go first okay, in case I need to follow you to a wrong address."

He had a brief flashback to his unfortunate sojourn down Knockturn Alley the year previous. That was something he'd prefer to avoid this time around.

He took some floor powder from the pot provided and threw it into the flames which turned green. "Saint Mungo's Reception." Harry called before stepping into the flames.

His arrival this time was little better than his previous experiences with floo travel, sending him spinning on his backside across the floor instead of firing him out like a ball from a cannon like before.

The room had barely stopped spinning when Tonks stumbled through the floo behind him. He gratefully took her hand when she went to help him back to his feet. It was only then that he got a chance to look at the room around him, and he had to say he was mildly disappointed. The reception room to Saint Mungo's wasn't all that different from that of any hospital Harry had ever seen depicted. Rows of chairs before a desk and set of doors. The only thing which really gave away this wasn't an ordinary hospital were the gas lamps instead of normal electric lights.

Tonks ushered him along to the desk. "General check-up with Healer Tonks?" She said to the welcome witch behind the desk.

The woman didn't even look up from her magazine, a copy of witch weekly, as she replied in a bored voice. "General Healing is third door on the left through the doors."

Tonks just shook her head ruefully at him, before rolling her eyes and leading him through the doorway in question. True to the bored woman's instructions however they found a door marked 'General Healing' three doors down in the hallway beyond.

Though they found themselves in a waiting room, which was notably empty, Harry wasn't immediately ushered to one of the seats. Instead Tonks made straight for a woman standing near the front desk. "Hey Mum, you get the Boss Lady's message?"

The woman, who's name tag on her lime green robes read 'Andromeda Tonks, Senior Healer', was about as tall as her daughter, though with a distinctly more buttoned up and proper demeanour. Her hair, brown and curly was tied back in a rough knot behind her head and she had serious dark grey eyes.

"Ah, hello Nymphadora, yes I received the Director's message." She said looking up from her clipboard where she'd been filling out some parchment work.

Harry felt a note of amusement upon hearing the younger woman's actual name. It was somewhat ironic that she'd gone out of her way to conceal it after all, only to have it revealed to him not ten minutes later. Tonks was apparently less amused, looking embarrassed and annoyed more than anything.

Andromeda's lips quirked in what Harry assumed was amusement at her daughter's discomfort before looking to him. "This is him I presume?" She started before nodding, "Yes I can see it now, he does look like his parents doesn't he?"

He was impressed, her eyes hadn't immediately gone to his scar, and even when they did it was only for a moment before fixing once again on his eyes. "Hello ma'am," he greeted.

Her expression, which had thus far been tightly controlled softened somewhat. "You can call me Andromeda lad. Or Healer Tonks if you prefer."

He bobbed his head in acceptance and she gestured for him to follow her. "This way then. Oh, be a dear and stick around Dora?"

Tonks responded much more favourably to this name than the previous one, smiling again, "Yes mum. I'll be right here if you need anything," She said indicating the waiting area.

Harry followed along behind the older woman down the hall and into an examination room. "Alright, up on the bed. You don't need to lie down just yet though."

He complied immediately hopping up and allowing his legs to dangle off the edge. She was looking at her clipboard again when she next spoke. "Alright, Harry. It's nice to meet you. As I said before, I'm Healer Tonks. Amelia mentioned in her message that she wanted a general check-up run on you, said she had reason to be concerned." She said, eyes flicking up to his own to ensure he understood.

"Now, strictly speaking we don't have to do this if you don't want to. It is after all your right to turn down an examination. That being said, you should know the Director wouldn't have requested it unless she thought it was important."

He wasn't fond of hospitals, few were, but…he'd never had a proper check-up before this, it was true. Could it hurt to get looked over? "If she thinks it's necessary…" He eventually allowed.

She smiled approvingly, "Excellent, now then, any previous injuries I should be aware of?" She asked briskly.

And wasn't that a kettle of fish, he supposed. Where did he begin?

"I don't really know what you'd consider important." He said after a few moments.

She frowned thoughtfully for a moment, "Broken bones, concussions, major illnesses, allergies, exposure to toxic potions or poisons…anything more than a minor cough really." She speculated.

Well that narrowed things down a touch he supposed. "I've broken a couple bones before, though the worst was a quidditch accident." He admitted, thinking of the time Lockhart had vanished the bones in his arm. "Madam Pomphrey fixed that up right away though."

She nodded understanding, and he considered some more. "Never been seriously sick before, I don't know if I have any allergies."

Andromeda made another notation here on her board. "I'll run an allergy test on you in a bit then."

It was then a thought occurred to him. "The only poisonous thing I can recall was that Basilisk last year."

The effect was immediate, the Healer stilling before looking up at him sharply. "Basilisk?" She asked, much to his confusion.

"You know, the one that was petrifying students at Hogwarts," He elaborated hoping to jog her memory.

A shocked blink later and she was staring at him intently, "There was a Basilisk at Hogwarts? Petrifying students?"

He frowned, confused now, "You didn't know? Wasn't it in the news?"

She shook her head, eyeing him uncertainly. "No, they mentioned a couple students had experienced accidents last year which rendered them unable to study, but they said the matter was being handled by Hogwarts staff."

He frowned and she considered him. "And it got close enough to attack you? How were you not killed by its eyes?" She eventually asked.

He shrugged. "I had help, it was blinded first, and actually come to think of it, it was probably mostly dead by that point considering how close I had to get to stab it..."

Her eyebrows had climbed a good way up her forehead. "You were exposed to its venom though?"

He nodded, rolling up his sleeve to show her the scar from where its fang had bitten into him. "Yeah, when it bit me."

Her eyes widened, apparently she'd misunderstood when he'd said he'd encountered the thing. "It bit you? How are you still alive?"

He shrugged, "Phoenix tears, Fawkes—that's Dumbledore's phoenix—came to help me when I fought the thing in the Chamber of Secrets. It was Fawkes that got the thing's eyes by the way."

He really didn't understand the fuss. It was dealt with, he'd killed it himself. No sense worrying about it any more, right? Regardless, she stopped staring at him, then took a step back and rubbed tiredly at her eyes before blowing out an exasperated breath. She then straightened and headed for the door, "Just a moment please."

Pulling open the door she stepped outside and fired off a spell down the hall. There was a muffled yelp a moment later and soon enough Tonks appeared in the doorway, rubbing her backside. "Ow mum, a stinging hex, really?"

"Step inside," Andromeda instructed brusquely.

Once the door was closed behind them Andromeda turned to regard her daughter. "What do you know about a Basilisk being found at Hogwarts?"

Tonks' skin paled dramatically, before she began stammering. "Er—I'm sorry, what? A basilisk? When was a basilisk at Hogwarts?"

Apparently that inarticulate answer was enough to convince her mother she had been unaware of such a thing and the healer looked back to Harry. Casting a cynical eye over the boy on the table. "Something tells me this is going to take longer than expected."

* * *

As promised, the portkey had taken the four of them directly into a DMLE 'Interview' room. Which really was only slightly different from an interrogation room, except for the fact that it lacked a two way mirror.

The aurors helped Sirius stay on his feet, his poor condition making it hard for him to catch himself when the portkey and the world stopped spinning.

Once safely off to the side Amelia levitated a table to the centre of the room and then set some chairs around it. She didn't release his shackles just yet however waving him to a seat and securing him to the edge of the table, before taking a seat across from him.

"If you'll be seated Mister Black, we can begin." She instructed.

Once Sirius was seated Kingsley left the room, while Moody took up a position leaned up against the wall, watching them both carefully from beneath grizzled grey brows. Sirius didn't miss the way that artificial eye was fixed on him unblinkingly.

Amelia pulled out a notepad and set up a dicta-quill on the table between them.

"The date is August 7th, 2013, and it is…" She paused to check her pocket watch. "Just coming up on 7:00 A.M. This is Director Amelia Bones presiding over preliminary interrogation—sorry, 'interview' of Azkaban escapee Sirius Orion Black. For the record, Master Auror Alastor Moody is also in the room."

She paused considering Sirius while the quill finished copying down her words. "Given the circumstances, we'll need to do a legilmency scan to check for any occlumency shields which might interfere with the questioning. Do I have your cooperation in this regard?" She asked eyes flicking to Sirius' own.

He nodded, "Yes Ma'am, you do."

Apparently the need to do this as cleanly and clearly as possible was not lost on him. That was good, it'd make things simpler.

Nodding her thanks she spoke again, "As Sirius Black has given his consent I will now attempt the scan."

She looked him in the eye, his own gaze meeting hers steadily and suddenly she was inside his head. She could tell it was distinctly uncomfortable for him, but focused her efforts against his shields, questing a probing to judge how effective they were. Finally after a minute she stopped, and he winced massaging his forehead against a headache.

She looked to the dicta-quill again, "Note for the record, I have determined that Sirius Black does indeed possess rudimentary Occlumency shields. Can speculate that extensive damage observed is due to time in Azkaban Prison. It is my considered opinion that these shields are far from sufficient to interfere with the use of veritaserum or a more in-depth legilmency probe."

Here she turned to regard Moody, "Master Auror Moody, if you will administer the test for anti-serum?"

Moody stepped forward and began casting detection spells on Sirius, which the man sat still for. After a bit Moody stopped. "I don't detect anything beyond a mild nutrient potion lass."

Amelia hummed thoughtfully, "The scan found only traces of a low grade nutrient potion in his system."

She checked again to ensure the quill had caught everything thus far, before returning her attention to the task at hand. "Sirius Orion Black, do you consent to the use of Veritaserum?"

"I do," was the prompt reply.

She looked to Moody who withdrew a vial of the potion in question from his jacket. "Do you Master Auror Moody swear to the quality of the serum being used?" She asked patiently.

He nodded, "I Alastor Moody do so swear, on my honour, that this does of Veritaserum is confirmed to be of sufficient quality by the DMLE's apothecary."

Amelia nodded in satisfaction, "The oath has been accepted by myself as Director of the DMLE." She reported, "Master Auror Moody, if you would be so good as to dose Mister Black with the serum we may begin."

Sirius tilted his head back obligingly and Moody dropped three drops of the potion into his mouth. When Sirius once again straightened he had the slightly vacant expression and still countenance of someone under the influence of the potion.

"We will begin with a battery of security questions to confirm the prisoner's identity." She asserted before looking Sirius in the eye again. "What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black." He reported blandly.

"What house were you sorted into at Hogwarts?" She asked next.

"Gryffindor," was the prompt reply.

She nodded again, "Answer the next question in the negative. Did you play quidditch as a beater for Gryffindor's house team while at Hogwarts?"

"N—yes." He stuttered, the potion forcing him to be honest despite the instruction.

She considered his responses before nodding, "Veritaserum is confirmed to be working." She murmured, "Very good, we can begin."

She considered Sirius a moment before steeling herself and beginning the questioning in earnest. "Sirius Black, are you a Death Eater?"

"No." A simple answer, but one with serious consequences for the British Wizarding world she knew.

"Have you ever been, or desired to become a Death Eater?" She asked hedging their bets, just in case.

"No." He answered again, and Amelia felt a knot of tension begin to loosen in her chest and guilt settle more deeply in its place.

"Did you betray the Potters to the Death Eaters and the one calling himself Lord Voldemort?" She asked, admirably managing to say the Dark lord's name without so much as a hitch.

The answer was the same as before, "No."

"Were you the Secret Keeper for the Potters?" She asked next.

"No."

She felt she knew the answer to the next part but had to ask anyways. "Who was the Secret Keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew." He intoned, and she remembered the person in question. A shy lad, or at least he had been back in Hogwarts, always tailing behind the rest of the Marauders…Seemingly insignificant, a mistaken assumption that had cost them it seemed.

"So he was the one who betrayed them?" She asked, for clarity's sake.

"Yes," He agreed.

"Is that why you went after him. Why you killed him? She asked, asking for the sake of the information she knew the question would dredge up.

"Yes, however I didn't kill him." He responded.

She recalled what she'd heard from Harry's memory of Sirius' previous recounting of the events. "Can you give me an account of that night from your perspective?"

For the next few minutes Sirius did precisely that, detailing the events of that evening to her without embellishment or exaggeration, his tone even and measured the whole way through. At the end of it she sat back in her seat and sighed, it had been almost word for word what he'd told Harry. "Well, this is quite the situation we find ourselves in. Alastor, if you could administer the antidote?"

Mad-Eye did so, and a few moments later Sirius was back to his old self, sagging slightly in his seat. "I have more questions, but they are nothing so critical as to necessitate using truth serum for." She explained to him.

Sirius shook his head, clearing away the last of the cobwebs caused by the serum. "Ask away."

She inclined her chin in thanks. "Firstly, I feel the need to ask, how did you escape Azkaban? If we have a security breach there…" She trailed off, her point clear.

"Then you'll need to close it so nobody else uses it to escape, I know." Sirius finished for her, and she nodded agreement.

"Simply put, I turned into Padfoot and slipped through the bars, once I was skinny enough, the Dementors ignore animals for the most part. From there it was simple enough to slip out of the building and make for shore."

She processed that, admiring the simplicity of that solution. She had to ask though, "If you could do that, why didn't you do so earlier?"

He sighed, his expression chagrined. "Mostly, lack of sufficient motivation I guess. At the beginning I had to wait until I was thin enough. After a few months that wasn't an issue but it's really hard to judge time in there so I kept up hope that someone would notice they'd locked me up by mistake and come get me out. I thought it would be better to it the right way instead of running and confirming that I was the bad guy. Then when I finally realized that no one cared anymore, the Dementors had been affecting me long enough that I just didn't care enough to escape. I didn't lose my mind like most of the others thanks to Padfoot - and knowing that I wasn't guilty wasn't a happy memory so they didn't steal that either. But yeah, they still drained out the feelings I needed to force myself to think it was a good idea to attempt such a long swim as a distinctly underweight dog."

"What made you desperate enough to try now then?" Amelia closed her eyes and murmured. It was impossible to ignore how she was one of those who had abandoned Sirius to that hell.

Here Sirius scowled, but didn't answer right away, "You see that copy of the Prophet earlier this summer, the one with the Weasley family winning a lottery and going on vacation?"

She nodded, vaguely recalling the issue in question. "Yes, how did you get a copy of the Prophet though? And why was it significant?"

Sirius shrugged, "Fudge was on his yearly inspection of the prison, I talked him into giving it to me. Took me a bit to notice it but the youngest boy, the paper said he was friends with Harry, he had a rat with him. A very familiar rat, with a missing toe on his front paw."

The significance of that was not lost on them after the questioning under serum. "Pettigrew…." Amelia murmured, before turning to regard Moody. "Are the Weasleys back from their vacation yet?"

"Don't know, but I can find out." He said, stumping out of the room, a determined look on his face.

She turned her attention back to Sirius, before glancing down at the dicta-quill. "With my authority as Director of The DMLE I hereby rescind the Kiss-On-Sight order for Sirius Black." She said first, smiling slightly at Sirius who sagged in relief. "Also under my authority as Director of the DMLE I hereby declare Sirius Black cleared of all charges relating to the deaths of James and Lily Potter, Pettigrew and over a dozen Muggles. End Dictation."

The dicta-quill stopped writing and she removed it from the parchment. She then pushed to her feet and stepped around the desk unshackling him from it and helping him to his feet. "The Ministry will almost certainly require a hearing of some sort in front of the Wizengamot, but it could be worse."

He snorted in amusement, "I'm more than willing to put up with that if it'll mean I'm free and clear."

She eyed him stoically for a moment before surprising him, and herself in all honesty, by pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry Sirius."

He hesitated a bare moment, before hugging her back. "It's okay Amy, or…well, it will be." He murmured.

She sighed, understanding his hesitation, he'd expected better of her. "I should have looked closer once I became Director…"

"If you had, in all likelihood someone would have accused you of being too close to the case and forced you to recuse yourself." He reminded her gently.

She nodded, while that was certainly true, it didn't make her feel any better about it though.

He looked her over speculatively, "Just tell me one thing Amy, did you believe I was guilty?"

She swallowed thickly, "Not right away." She admitted eventually. "But after I'd hit nothing but roadblocks and official warnings for interfering for months I admit I began to doubt myself…doubt you."

Sighing, she looked away, "I am sorry Sirius, I should have known better."

The silence which stretched following that grew intensely uncomfortable for her before Sirius finally spoke again, "I know it must have been difficult to believe in me considering the job they were likely doing to drag my name through the muck." He eventually allowed.

She smiled weakly, she knew that was likely the closest she'd get to forgiveness for now. "Maybe; doesn't mean I don't hate myself for failing you though."

He shrugged, "What's done is done, and cannot be undone. No sense dwelling." He said a bit briskly, looking away himself.

True enough, she supposed, however before she could offer anything else in the way of apology there was a knock at the door, and Moody stepped back inside. "According to Arthur's coworkers he won't be back until later this month."

She considered that, but hesitated, she knew what she would likely be forced to order now was almost certainly enough to give the politicians indigestion. "We can't risk Pettigrew catching word that Sirius has been cleared before they return." She murmured, getting a nod in return from Moody. "Brief a Hit Wizard squad and send them out after them. Make sure they understand it's the rat they're after and that he's an animagus. Can't risk him getting away. Also, please make it clear they should at least try to maintain a low profile."

Moody needed no further instruction and once again departed. Once the door closed behind him Amelia turned back to Sirius. "You'll be staying in here for a short while Sirius - shouldn't be more than a few hours - until I can get the right people informed that you're cleared. Then we'll move you to a safe house."

"May I ask what you plan to do with Harry?" Sirius asked, plopping himself back down in his chair.

She paused considering just what she could reasonably tell him. "We'll see what the medical examination turns up first I think. But if things go the way I think they will, he might be in Saint Mungo's for a few days. After that? We'll see what he wants to do, but I think it might be possible to have you two housed together, with supervision." At his questioning look she explained. "You are not in great shape right now Sirius, physically or mentally. I'd be remiss if I allowed Harry into your sole care right now. I'll be seeing what I can do to get you the help you'll need."

He seemed to grudgingly accept that and nodded, so she pressed on. "In the meantime I'll read in one of the Department's elves and have this place fixed up a little more comfortably." She assured him.

There was another knock at the door and Kingsley poked his head inside. "Boss? Just got a message from Auror Tonks. Seems there's a matter requiring your attention at Saint Mungo's. She says there's no rush, but it's important enough to warrant your attention. She did sound...a little worried."

She sighed, it seemed today was going to be a busy one. "Alright, I'll be right along then."

He ducked out again, and she looked to see Sirius now looking concerned, "I'll make sure Harry's alright Sirius."

He seemed to hesitate then a thought occurred to him, "Auror Tonks? Did Andi change careers?"

She couldn't help the small smirk of amusement which graced her lips, "Nymphadora actually. Andi and Ted's little girl. She's damned good too. You'd be proud of her."

He smiled in amusement, no doubt thinking of the woman in question, "Good on her. Okay, well, I won't keep you then."

She was just about to the door before she stopped and turned to regard him one last time. "Sirius?"

He looked over at her expectantly. "It's good to see you again. I hope once this is all sorted we can talk about things?"

Again that hesitation and doubtful flicker which cut her to her core, but then he nodded slowly. "I'll look forward to it."

She gave him a brisk nod before turning and striding out.

* * *

It took only a few minutes to see to the things she'd promised Sirius, sending an elf off to see to his care before leaving the DMLE office for Saint Mungo's. She'd also ensured that nobody except that elf would be entering that interview room without her express permission. They couldn't risk it getting out they had Sirius until they had all their ducks in a row.

It took only a short time to find her way through the hospital to the general healing offices, where she found Tonks waiting outside an examination room door.

"Report Auror Tonks?" She instructed briskly as she joined her.

Tonks shifted uncomfortably, her hair oscillating colours a couple times before she spoke, "Mum found some things which…concern her, even beyond the things you warned her to expect." Tonks said eventually, "I think it'd be best if you spoke with her directly about it. It's a doozy boss."

She raised an eyebrow questioningly at the woman, then nodded and turned to knock at the door. There was a short pause before it opened and Andromeda Tonks ushered her inside. "Amelia, glad you're here, I should start off by telling you that we have Mister Potter's permission to speak freely about what I found."

Amelia for her part nodded her thanks to Harry where he sat on the edge of the examination table, before looking back to Andromeda. "Alright, what's the matter then?"

The other woman took a deep breath and ran a hand back through her hair in an unusual show of nerves for the woman. "Were you aware of some of the insanity that's been going on at Hogwarts the last couple years?"

Amelia had to admit, whatever she'd been expecting, it wasn't that. "I'm sorry, what?"

Andromeda sighed in aggravation, raised a hand and started ticking things off on it, "Trolls, a Cerberus, possessed teachers, a fraudster with a penchant for Obliviation, and a literal ancient monster roaming the halls? Any of that sound familiar?"

Amelia felt her brow furrow as she tried to make sense of that. "No, at least I don't think so. Can you explain?"

Andromeda nodded, "Yes, though it might be better for Mister Potter to tell you personally."

Understandably, she turned her attention curiously to the lad in question, who shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny.

"Harry, can you tell Amelia here what you told me about the…protections, for the Philosopher's Stone?" Andromeda requested, causing Amelia's brows to go up in surprise. The Philosopher's Stone? What in the world did any of this have to do with an Alchemical masterpiece? The Stone was said to be able to confer eternal life and to transmute lead into gold. Not something one just found lying around.

"Um…sure." He started stuttering a bit, "Dumbledore had the stone moved from Gringotts the same day I went to Diagon Alley for the first time. Had Hagrid take care of both things you know? Not that I knew that's what was going on at the time ma'am." He started, babbling a bit.

"Turns out that was what the break-in at Gringotts was about. When we got to the school we were warned to stay away from one of the third floor corridors unless we wanted to 'die a most painful death'." He elaborated.

It was here she raised a hand to stop him. "I'm sorry, are you telling me Albus Dumbledore came into possession of the Philosopher's Stone somehow and hid it at Hogwarts?" She asked, a touch incredulously. It was after all a pretty unbelievable thing to accuse the headmaster of.

He nodded seriously however, "Yeah, pretty much."

She couldn't help but shake her head, a touch mystified by it all. Before she questioned him further however, Andromeda spoke again. "And then he announced to basically the whole school where it was being kept in a way which was pretty much guaranteed to have students sniffing around for something," The woman noted dryly.

Amelia rubbed tiredly at her eyes, this was way too much to handle on so little sleep. "Alright, I feel like I'm only getting part of the story here. Can you tell me, from the beginning, before Hagrid picked you up, just what happened in your first year?"

She spent the next hour or so listening to Harry recount his introduction to the magical world and his first year at Hogwarts. When he finally wound down, she found herself once again rubbing tiredly at her eyes. Part of her wanted to believe he was making everything up, but there was something inside her which told her he wasn't.

"Albus, just what the hell are you doing?" She muttered to herself.

The stone - whether it was real or not didn't matter - and the horrifically planned defences around it, the incident with the Troll, the Cerberus, a baby dragon of all things, and a murderous creature of then unknown nature skulking in the forbidden forest. That didn't even touch on the fact first years had been sent into the Forbidden Forest with only a wandless half-giant for protection and the fact that monster they'd encountered turning out to be a certain Hogwarts professor who had found himself possessed by the spectre of Voldemort.

Those were just the moments which could be termed 'highlights'.

"Alright, let me just start by saying, 'No' I did not know about any of that. Quirrell's death for instance was reported as an accident. And due to Hogwarts' relative autonomy the investigation never went anywhere, so the case was closed."

She turned her attention back to Harry. "I will tell you this right now, Quirrell's death at your hands would have, at worst, been classified as self-defence."

Harry relaxed a little and she pressed on, "I may have my issues with Dumbledore right now, but I will agree with his assessment that Quirrell was a dead man walking the moment he was possessed. You merely caused the spirit possessing him to flee, expediting that death."

He nodded weakly in understanding.

After considering him for a moment, she looked him seriously in the eye. "First, I want you to know that you're not to speak of what I'm about to say outside this room. Not until I state otherwise. Okay?"

He nodded agreement, looking at her curiously. "Harry, you should know that pretty much all of the Headmaster's dealing with all this have been highly suspect to put it mildly. If not blatantly illegal and immoral as in the case of covering up the incident and hiding the stone in a school full of children."

Harry nodded slowly, and she continued. "Many would tell you that the headmaster is next to infallible, or at worst harmlessly absent minded. I will tell you that this whole thing reeks of a setup however. Those protections on the stone were woefully inadequate even for students. And far below the capabilities of the staff. What any of them were thinking I haven't the foggiest, but an investigation into the matter will soon be launched."

Here, Harry shifted uncomfortably. "You won't close the school will you? I mean, I really like it there and…" He trailed off, but she got the message loud and clear. He didn't want to risk being forced to go back to his relatives.

That he preferred the school where he had been in mortal peril to his relative's house really said it all, didn't it?

"I won't lie to you Harry," She said calmly. "The school may close for a bit while the investigation is ongoing."

Harry winced.

"That said, you won't be going to your relatives again. We'll be investigating them too." She continued, this time earning a look of relief.

She nodded then sighed, turning over the page in her notebook, which had filled up rapidly with notes over the last hour. "Now, can you tell me about your second year? Same as before Harry, start where you left off with first year."

Again another hour or so passed before Harry was finished.

Amelia found herself groaning tiredly to herself, leaning back on the stool she'd conjured for herself part way through Harry's retelling of the first year. "Yes, I think we can definitely say there will be an investigation of the school. At the very least because of that Acromantula nest…" She muttered.

Here she looked back to Harry who was looking decidedly sheepish. "Can I see your scar Harry, the one from the Basilisk?" She requested, looking for just one thing to latch onto that would confirm all of this.

He nodded and rolled up his sleeve so that she could see it. She looked at the wound, a circular pattern of raised red flesh, and sighed as she nodded acceptance, before looking to Andromeda. "Would I be right in assuming you checked that to confirm what it came from?"

Andromeda nodded briskly, "Yes, and it's exactly what he says it is, the wound from a Basilisk bite."

Amelia paused considering her options for a minute before nodding to herself. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Andromeda here will be seeing to all your health concerns."

The healer in question nodded firmly to Harry, who offered a weak smile back. "I'll be happy to help in this." She assured him.

Amelia dipped her chin in thanks to the woman before looking back to Harry, "I believe I'll be assigning her daughter as your guard and watcher until all this is over."

She had to raise a hand to stall him, "But first, I'd like to get your memories of several key incidents from your testimony. Can we do that?"

The lad seemed a little put out at being prevented from voicing his immediate approval of the idea she'd floated, but bobbed his head in agreement anyways.

"Andi, could you grab say…two dozen memory phials please?"

Andromeda left promptly to do just that. "You'll be glad to know Sirius is cleared of any wrongdoing and the kiss-on-sight order has been rescinded. Also with Auror Tonks looking after you it might be possible to place you and your godfather in the same accommodations so you can get reacquainted."

Harry smiled genuinely, "You mean he's really innocent?"

She laughed at his enthusiasm. "Oh I doubt anyone would ever describe Sirius Black as innocent, but he is most certainly not guilty of being anything more than a scamp and rogue." She assured him, deciding against muddying the waters with the incident in school involving Severus Snape and Remus Lupin.

It was then that a thought occurred to her, "I suppose I should inform Andromeda of that too actually, she's his cousin you see."

Harry nodded considering that point, and others. "What will happen if you find…whatever it is you'll be looking for in the investigation."

She paused considering what she could reasonably speculate about with him. "Hard to say. So much is wrong at Hogwarts judging by what you've said. I can guess that Dumbledore might lose his position as Headmaster however. He had no right placing the students in that much danger."

Here Harry's expression turned maudlin, and she smiled sympathetically at him. "You really liked Dumbledore didn't you?"

He sighed and nodded, "He was always so nice to me…"

She snorted in wry understanding, "He's 'nice' to everyone Harry. But don't let that fool you, he's a far more cunning wizard than he lets on. I'd strongly recommend against speaking with him about Sirius should you see him again any time soon."

Harry nodded understanding, just as there was a knock at the door and Andromeda was back. "Alright," Amelia said sitting up a bit, "One thing before we begin. I was just talking with Harry, Andromeda, and something occurred to me that I should let you know."

At the healer's curious look she explained, "As of a couple hours ago I've found Sirius Black innocent of the things he was imprisoned for. For the moment he's being held in isolation at the DMLE under a pseudonym I arranged for him."

She held up a hand to hold off any questions for the moment, "We'll be moving him to a better location soon I imagine, at which point I'll need a healer to look him over. Twelve years in Azkaban has done a number on him.

For the first time since they'd gathered today, Andromeda looked as though she truly might lose some of her tightly held self control, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'd be glad to help out with that. I never really believed he was guilty anyways."

Speaking of guilt, Amelia felt a twinge as some of her own guilty flared reared up again. Still, she had other matters to attend to before she could spend any time processing that, so she gave herself a little shake and got back to the matter at hand. "Good, now, let's see about collecting those memories Harry."

It took a good half an hour to finish collecting memories of everything pertinent to the investigation. In fact, at one point, she had to send Andromeda out for an additional dozen phials before they finished up.

"Ma'am, is it okay if I ask what you are going to do with all those memories?"

Amelia pondered that for a moment, then nodded assent. "First I'm going to show them all to a couple people in particular and then I'm going to have them help me approach the Minister—carefully I might add—so that we can get authorization for an investigation at Hogwarts."

He nodded thoughtfully, "And I can really see Sirius again?"

She smiled at his enthusiasm, "I want Andromeda to sign off on him before we do that Harry, and besides, you've got a bit of healing to do yourself!"

He smiled ruefully, but dipped his chin in acknowledgment. "But once that is done, I don't see any harm in it."

Again that bright genuine smile lit up his face and she turned back to Andromeda, "Thank you for all your help Andi, let me know if you need anything from my end. I'll get back to you as soon as I can about Sirius."

"Will do Amy," Was the reply that came back at her.

With that they parted ways, and Amelia left the room, though not before she heard Andromeda explaining to the poor lad why all potions taste so foul. It sounded like Harry was going to be sampling a lot of them judging by groan of protest she heard from Harry just before the door closed behind her.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hope you enjoyed it. Please rate, review, comment, subscribe etc. Special thanks to Bearmauls, Temporal Knight and My Parents. PLEASE NOTE: if anyone is willing to help me out by being a beta for this story just drop me a line. **Update:** also thanks to Q Elwyn D, Volksbrot and Bonsly24 as of oct.22.2019


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note** : Right, so this is a shorter chapter, wish it was longer but I ran into some difficulties with real life and figured you guys (and girls) had waited long enough for this. I hope you lot enjoy this!

 **Update** : Edited and Updated as of Oct.22.2019

 **Disclaimer:** I obviously do not own the Harry Potter universe. Nor do I make money off this. I'm just having fun in JKRs sandbox.

* * *

Amelia Bones sat in her office, looking over the latest report from Andromeda Tonks while she tried to plan out her next move. There was quite a bit on her plate now, and she knew she'd need to delegate some of it in order to see it done in any sort of timely fashion. The question was really how best to do that.

She had the matter of the Dursleys of course, a not so minor concern considering some of the things she was seeing in the report from Andromeda. Quite frankly she wanted to see them twisting in the wind for what they'd done to Harry. So she'd need to pick someone level headed enough to ensure that it was justice which was carried out upon them and not vengeance.

Then there was the matter of the lack of Trial for Sirius, she'd need to get someone to handle that mess with a delicate touch if she couldn't get Fudge's outright backing for it. Not to mention needing to ensure Sirius was well cared for in the meantime. She already had the Tonks women in mind for that job. Andromeda to see to his mental and physical health and Dora to see to his protection along with his godson. She'd need to go through official procedures to see that done of course, having one of her Aurors doing off the books work was a scandal looking for a place to happen.

Which just left figuring out just how to break all this and the need for an investigation at Hogwarts to the Minister…

She was just starting to get a handle on her ideas for that when she heard a commotion outside her door, which moments later banged open allowing the Minister to breeze into the room.

Fudge it seemed was in fine form today, drawing himself up to his admittedly unimpressive height as he came to a stop in front of her desk, his somewhat beady eyes flashing irritably as he regarded her, one hand straightening the bowler hat upon his head.

"Amelia!" He barked, by way of greeting. "What is this I'm hearing about you having Harry Potter in Custody? And why have you rescinded the Kiss-On-Sight order for Black?" He demanded sharply. Neither of them paid much attention to the way Kelly hastily closed the door behind him.

For her part she simply stared him calmly in the eye, not at all intimidated by the bluster. After all she'd seen far scarier things than a somewhat overweight politician bustling into her space to make demands of her. Indeed after facing the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange and Augustus Rookwood, Cornelius Fudge in a snit didn't even rate.

"Care to have a seat Minister?" She said after a moment, during which something of her attitude must have registered with the Minister as he shifted somewhat uncomfortably under her scrutiny. "I was actually hoping to talk to you just as soon as I had all my ducks in a row. I'm afraid the report I was about to prepare for you isn't complete, but I'm still more than happy to discuss it all with you anyways. Assuming you'll forgive it being somewhat off the cuff. It may take a couple hours though I admit."

He seemed a touch nonplussed by her utterly calm demeanour, probably having become accustomed to subordinates cowering, bowing and scraping when he expressed his displeasure.

Finally his brain seemed to reengage and he blinked, "Ah, I—well, very well then. I wish you had consulted me before moving ahead with things, but I'll hear your report now if it is that important." He allowed, magnanimously waving his hand as he took a seat.

That was utterly ridiculous, of course, the man had no real desire to know everything of the inner workings of the DMLE which is what would be required should she have been required to keep him fully informed of all matters within the department.

Still, she allowed none of that to show on her face as she pushed to her feet and grabbed a bottle of brandy off one of her less crowded shelves. This was a calculated move on her part. She was familiar with the Minister's love of fine alcoholic beverages and was familiar enough with the man to know that a touch of it in his system tended to curb his more histrionic tendencies.

"A drink Minister? You'll probably be wanting one before I'm done I'm afraid." She said, offering him a carefully executed rueful smile.

He blinked in surprise, "Hm…it's a tad early I suppose, but—oh very well." He said eyeing the bottle appreciatively.

She poured him a tumbler of it and he took it off her, giving it a sniff before humming approvingly and sipping from the glass.

Sitting herself down across from him she leaned back comfortably in her chair, "I want to start by saying that I do not presently have Harry Potter in any sort of custody, he is currently getting checked over by Saint Mungo's after his ordeal last night."

The Minister nodded sagely, seeming greatly pacified by the fine alcohol she'd offered him, "Ah, a misunderstanding then?" He allowed somewhat negligently, "I had heard young Harry had a bit of an incident last night. Accidental magic or some such? That's why I was concerned to hear he was at the DMLE you see. It seemed a bit of an overreaction to something so minor!" He offered piously.

She nodded easily, "Indeed it would be, I'm glad you cared enough about the lad to check for yourself however Minister."

Amelia disliked having to play these political games just to get things done, but it was the nature of things. She knew full well it likely had less to do with actual concern for Harry's wellbeing and more to do with the public relations nightmare which could ensue should the Daily Prophet catch wind of the rumour Harry Potter was in custody.

He huffed, looking embarrassed by the praise, such as it was. "Yes well, he is very important to the Wizarding community, and besides we all know how frightening such an incident can sometimes be for a child."

Nodding agreement, she allowed him to carry on, "He will be alright won't he?" The Minister asked cautiously. "I was given to understand he was uninjured by all accounts."

Just who had been sending the Minister such accounts without her say so she would dearly have loved to know just then, but now was not the time for that particular question. "He is well enough at present. Though there were a number of things that raised concerns about his living conditions. It seems his relatives are Magiphobes you see."

He tutted discontentedly in response. "Ah, I had not heard that. Disgraceful, Dumbledore assured me that Harry was being well cared for."

She grimaced filing that little tidbit away for later.

It did give her a good opening however, "It is funny you should mention the Chief Warlock actually. I'm afraid I've stumbled upon a rather large problem today, Minister and it seems he and the previous administration may have left something of a mess for us to clean up."

And that was the key point in her approach to all this right there she knew. Implying it was not the current administration's mess right from the get go was a critical move with Cornelius. He had a habit of trying to cover up anything that would reflect badly on his time in office. Fixing a mistake made by the previous administration however was another matter entirely.

Fudge blinked in surprise, "Oh? Oh dear, I had hoped we'd finally seen the back of the little surprises Bagnold's lot had left for us. And you say Dumbledore is involved in it all?"

He considered that then nodded seriously, "Very well then, let's hear it."

Amelia indulged in a small feeling of triumph before leaning forward and clasping her hands before her on the desk. "It's actually a series of issues, though they are all somewhat interrelated. I could attempt to explain it all to you if you wish, of course, but I have a better idea if you are game Minister?"

He waved magnanimously to her with his now empty tumbler. "Enough of this 'Minister' business Amelia. We've worked together for years, you may call me Cornelius. What do you have in mind?"

Eyeing him speculatively she nodded, "I have here a large number of memories which I have spent the last couple hours confirming the validity of. I find their contents rather concerning, and was wondering if you were up for a trip into a pensieve. I could rather use your opinion on a few things you see?"

His eyebrows rose in surprise, "I've not been into a pensieve memory in years. Er—it's not anything…graphic is it? Only I've just finished lunch…"

She fought the urge to roll her eyes at that. "It may be a bit graphic in places yes. However, I'm afraid the matter is quite grave Cornelius. Worth enduring a somewhat unsettled stomach for I assure you."

He paused eyeing the pensieve she was now pulling out and setting on her desk somewhat warily. Finally however he sighed and nodded. "Very well, I suppose it would be somewhat disappointing if the Minister for Magic were unwilling to risk a little heartburn and such when important matters were being discussed."

She inclined her head at him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, before emptying the first memory vial into the basin before her. "Now, I should begin by stating the common element in all of these memories I'll be showing you is Harry Potter. He's witnessed and experienced some things which are…rather worrisome." She began stoically, indicating the swirling memories in their phials on the rack. "Now, the first couple memories I have here are incidents with his relatives prior to his first year at Hogwarts. I feel secure in stating that we can handle such matter without taking up any of your valuable time Cornelius."

He hummed acknowledgement while swirling the last dregs of his drink about in the bottom of his glass and she continued. "It is what happens once he received his Hogwarts Letter and during his first two years at the school which are most concerning to us. If you will start us off Cornelius, just place a finger in the basin and we can begin." She said smoothly, waving to the pensieve between them.

He nodded seriously, pushing to his feet and pacing a step forward before reaching out without further ado and placed a finger in the swirling mists. His eyes promptly went vacant as he was pulled within the memory.

Satisfied she allowed herself a small mental pat on her back before reaching out and joining him. They were just getting started, she'd have to handle this carefully or it would all be for nought.

* * *

It was a bit over an hour later that they exited the pensieve as the last memory from Harry's first year drew to a close. Cornelius, who was shaking rather heavily stepped back and fell heavily into his seat across from her.

"I don't suppose there is any hope that those memories were the boy's imagination or something?" He asked weakly.

Her response was to pour him a new tumbler of brandy and hand it across to him. "No, I'm afraid not. As I said before Cornelius I personally tested the memories for manipulation, and besides…" She said shrugging, "a person's imagination doesn't manifest in a pensieve memory."

He took a steadying drink, his hands still shaking, "Then that—that thing, which was possessing the professor. That really was…him?"

She knew just from his tone that he was referring to the shade of Voldemort. "A spectre, a leech, a remnant of him, but yes." She agreed stoically. "That was definitely Voldemort."

He shuddered at her use of the name. "A-and he's trying to come back?" He ventured, getting a nod in return. "What was Dumbledore thinking placing The Stone in Hogwarts if he suspected that lunatic was after it? To say nothing of the rest of that madness!"

It was rather gratifying to find that Cornelius wasn't completely without basic human empathy or common sense. Though that was largely neither here nor there at the moment.

"I don't know what Albus is thinking Cornelius, but it does have me worried that he seemed to think it was a reasonable course of action." She agreed, watching the minister take another fortifying sip. "As much as I hate to do this to you Cornelius, there is some more you should see. And it'd be for the best to get it over with."

He paused, giving the pensieve a distrustful look. "It gets worse doesn't it? Something tells me that Albus wasn't telling me everything about the happening at Hogwarts last year…"

She nodded agreement, "It certainly doesn't get any better, but if anything the things Harry witnessed in his second year are more critical, I have a sneaking suspicion they may explain something of how Voldemort managed to keep from passing on."

Still he hesitated, and she sighed, "If it is any consolation Cornelius, think of it like this. He's not back. Not yet. We still have time. If we can get a grip on all of this now, we may be able to prevent him from successfully returning."

He shuddered again, and downed the last of his brandy. "Very well, I suppose there is nothing else for it. Show me."

She siphoned off the previous memory back into its phial and then placed the next one, Harry's encounter with a certain house elf during the summer into the bowl. Soon enough they were entering the memory together, however this time, when they exited the memory a short time later Cornelius stopped her before she could start the next one.

"That elf," he murmured, looking thoughtful, "It seemed familiar, I feel like I've encountered it before…"

She just nodded, she knew why that was the case but saw no benefit in telling him all of that just yet. "I'm not entirely surprised Cornelius, you'll understand why when we finish going through the last of this batch I think."

The Minister waved for her to continue and she switched the memories in the bowl and they began again.

This time it was a few memories later that he once again stopped her. They had just viewed Harry's memory of the incident with the 'arrest' of Hagrid.

"I actually feel rather badly for Mister Hagrid. He seemed an alright fellow…" He hedged, no doubt knowing just how dimly she viewed his actions that night.

She eyed him cautiously, wondering just how much she dared at this time, hoping her next suggestion wouldn't get his back up. "In future Cornelius, if you'd bring such concerns to me I might be able to help you avoid such an…error. After all had I known about the incidents at Hogwarts in the first place I could have started an investigation then and there."

He paused considering before nodding a touch ruefully, "I'll try to bear it in mind in future Amelia."

She felt a small twinge of relief, that was likely as good as she was going to get right then she figured. Best not to push her luck.

"Now, you have the rest of last year's memories to show me, don't you?" He said, and again they plunged back into Harry's memories.

* * *

Again when they exited the memories she found herself offering the Minister a drink, which he took gratefully.

"We came so close to him coming back Amelia! I can scarce believe it. If not for young Harry…" He murmured, looking physically ill at the thought.

"Which is to say nothing of how close the lad came to dying himself. Can you imagine the panic which would have followed had You-Know-Who returned and the Boy-Who-Lived had died in the process?"

She could easily imagine that unfortunately, and it wouldn't have been good. He took a deep drink before angrily setting down his glass. "And Lucius! He was up to his neck in all of it, b-but he had the audacity to trick me into arresting the groundskeeper instead?"

He stopped and considered that, before looking distinctly uncomfortable, probably remembering all those campaign 'donations' which had come from the Malfoys. "Tell me Amelia, how much do you think Lucius actually knew about everything?"

She had to stifle a sigh, she could tell he was hopeful that he could salvage Lucius from all of this. She would have to disappoint him, "Do you mean you are wondering if he knew the Diary could bring back Voldemort? Or that it would release that Basilisk into the school?"

He looked distinctly uncomfortable at having it restated so bluntly. She ploughed on regardless, "Lucius is a political animal, and even when he was a Death Eater, which it seems might have been more voluntary than he prefers others to believe, he was never accused of some of the brutality that the others were." She allowed, and Cornelius looked hopeful before she was forced to ruthlessly crush that hope. "Do I think that he knew about the Basilisk, or that the Diary could cause the Dark Lord to return? No, not really. But I do believe he knew quite well that the Diary was dangerous and would have caused havoc at Hogwarts. After all he ensured it found its way into the hands of the child of one of his political rivals just prior to her going to Hogwarts."

The sense of disappointment radiating off Cornelius was palpable, and she sighed in mild aggravation. "Lucius knew it was a dark artifact Cornelius, and he was willing to do whatever he could to cover up his part in things when it became apparent how dangerous it was. Not to mention apparently being willing to try casting the killing curse at Harry Potter when the boy tricked him into freeing that elf."

Here Cornelius seemed to collect himself a bit, nodding seriously. "Yes, quite shocking. I've never seen Lucius like that before. He was this close to cursing the lad. If not for that little elf he might very well have succeeded!" He paused, considering that. "Why didn't Dumbledore step in, it is not as though he was not present after all?"

She spread her hands before her, "I don't know Cornelius, and in all honesty it is just another thing in a long list of questions I now have about Dumbledore."

He eyed her shrewdly, and Amelia was forced to remind herself that despite everything Cornelius hadn't gotten where he was without some level of political acumen. "You wish to launch an investigation into Hogwarts don't you?"

She nodded, not willing to beat about the bush on this point. "And into Lucius Malfoy, and into Harry's home environment. In fact I feel we very well might be up to our eyeballs in important investigations very soon."

He hummed, looking uncertain, his eyes drifting back and forth as he calculated the possible repercussions of such a move. "Look at it this way Cornelius, while the likes of Rita Skeeter will likely always find a way to twist things to reflect badly on just about everyone involved, you can be sure that many more people will be happy just knowing that we actually intend to do something about it all."

Here she shrugged, "After all, Hogwarts is the premier magical school in Europe, if not the world, and moreover is where we all send our children. It should be safe, and people will want to know why it wasn't. If we are smart in how we tell the Prophet about this the Ministry could even come out looking like some of the only 'good guys' in this mess."

He paused, acknowledging that point before nodding more firmly. "You're quite right Amelia, about all of that really. And while I fear Skeeter and her ilk will cause a fuss as they're want to do, the end result should prove more than satisfactory."

The Minister looked to her seriously, "I want you to investigate these things Amelia, but foremost in your mind should be seeing to it that You-Know-Who should not return. You'll have whatever you need to ensure that never happens. All you need do is ask."

Amelia had to admit she was rather pleased with the man's reactions to things thus far. It had gone rather better than she'd had any reason to expect. Still, there was one last piece of business to see to first.

"We still have one last set of memories to review Cornelius, the last ones are mine. I will say this however, they are somewhat less weighty than the previous sets."

He nodded, looking relieved despite everything. "Very well, let us get this over with shall we?" He said downing the last of his drink, and affixing a determined look upon his face.

She just hoped he'd take as well to this set of memories as he had to the last ones.

* * *

Cornelius sighed, sitting back in his chair as they exited the last memory, Amelia's own recollection of both the 'arrest' and interrogation.

"So, now I see what you meant about a mess left behind by the previous administration." He said wryly, before pausing to ponder all he'd seen. "You did the right thing I think, Amelia. Though I'm certain when all this comes to light some will paint you in a suspicious light considering how cloak and dagger your approach to bringing him in was. Especially if your previous association with Black became known."

Here he blew out a gusty sigh. "An innocent man in Azkaban for twelve years!" He said shaking his head. "You were not joking when you said they'd left quite a mess for us to clean up!"

She smiled slightly, pleased he was taking it so well. "On the plus side, clearing an innocent man will likely play well with the press," she pointed out, "even more so considering he is the scion of an old family."

He snorted dryly in amusement, "True enough. Though I'm certain they'll find something to gripe about, they always do." Here he paused, frowning slightly in thought. "Despite what you said to Black, I do not think you'll need to hold a full hearing over this. With the evidence in hand, I think the matter is fairly cut and dry. You'll be wanting to investigate Bagnold, Crouch and Dumbledore over this too I assume?" She simply nodded in agreement and he snorted in amusement. "Up to our eyeballs in important investigations indeed!"

He pushed to his feet and pointed at her sternly. "Very well, you have authorization, but tread carefully Amelia. They are not opponents to be trifled with." He cautioned. "Now, if there are no further matters which require my immediate attention…"

Here she lifted a hand to stop him, "There is one other matter, though I'll be brief."

The Minister shot her an impatient look but nodded for her to continue. "Who told you I had Harry here and that I had rescinded the Kiss-On-Sight order?"

He hesitated, once again looking uncomfortable. She could tell he was reluctant to give up his source within her department so explained her own position on the matter, "If the security and confidentiality of my Department is being endangered Cornelius, I need to know about it. No matter how well intentioned whoever is keeping you informed may be."

She strongly suspected whoever it was, was not doing it out of any sort of sense of civic duty, but instead out of the desire to climb the ladder by gaining his favour. She already had a few suspects.

He sighed, then nodded, knowing this wasn't a battle he could win. "Dolores Umbridge," He stated flatly.

She carefully kept her face blank, containing her opinion of the witch in question.

Dolores Umbridge was a toad, in more ways than one. Head of not only the underage magic office and obliviation squads but also the division overseeing Azkaban, Amelia was not certain just how Dolores managed to get her fingers in so many pies within the Department, and had always suspected she had got her promotions through some underhanded means. Likely by sucking up to Barty Crouch. She'd never had the evidence necessary to sack the vile woman from any of her positions, and there had been rumours Dolores had been applying for higher positions throughout the Ministry for some time, here was proof she was doing far more than that!

"Thank you Cornelius. I apologize for keeping you so long." She said calmly.

He waved that off, looking tired and a bit sick to his stomach now. "Don't be, it was important, all of it. And I needed to know." He asserted, smiling weakly at her. "After all, better this than the alternatives right? Though sometimes I wonder if they weren't right when they said ignorance is bliss."

She shook her head here, "I'm going to have to disagree on that one Cornelius. I always prefer to know what's happening so I can at least try to do something about it before it becomes a problem."

He nodded thoughtfully in agreement, "Perhaps you're right, good luck in your investigations Amelia, keep me apprised." He requested before walking out.

So, that was it then. She'd secured authorization to proceed with an investigation into Hogwarts, along with a whole boatload of other things, she reflected casting a somewhat jaded look at the racks of memory phials still on her desk.

Yes, she had a lot to do. Best to get started on it. She thumbed a rune on her desk, connecting her through to her assistant, "Kelly I need the following people to report to my office…"

* * *

Cornelius Fudge trudged into the antechamber to the offices of the Minister for Magic, deep in thought. He was just about to the door to his office when he was stirred from his musings by someone speaking to him. "Hem hem, Cornelius! I was hoping to speak to you!" Came the simpering voice of Dolores Umbridge, "I do hope my little message this morning proved helpful…"

He stared at her dully for a moment before a guilty pang sounded in his guts. He recalled the last discussion he'd had with Amelia quite clearly. "Uh, yes, yes quite helpful Madam Umbridge, but I have many things on my mind right now."

She blinked in surprise at the gentle rebuff in his words, then offered a mock pout, a frankly disturbing gesture coming from the frumpy, pink covered witch. "Oh dear, I do hope Director Bones hasn't been causing too much trouble. She is so persistent sometimes!" She confided, ending with a disturbingly girlish giggle.

He blinked numbly at her, processing that nonsense. "No, I'm afraid it is not her who has been causing trouble this. time." He paused just a moment, and she appeared to be readying to speak again when he cut her off. "Actually, now that I think of it, I believe Madam Bones wishes to speak with you about something."

He almost felt bad about essentially feeding Dolores to the wolves, but right about now he could care less about that.

She grimaced momentarily at that, then brightened, a false smile bleeding across her features. "Of course, I'm sure it's a minor matter, but she can't seem to get by without me there to smooth the way," she tutted.

He was giving her a funny look now, he was sure, but in fairness he was looking at her like he'd never actually seen her before. He hadn't quite appreciated just how blatant her overtures were until now. Perhaps it was viewing them in light of learning how Malfoy had deceived him?

Had he truly been so blind that he had never realized just what an obsequious wretch this woman could be?

"Hm…yes, quite. Now, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I truly do have matters I must attend to." He said, pretending apology.

She looked crestfallen for a moment, but nodded. "Of course Cornelius. Please, let me know if I can be of any help!"

He inclined his head at her, before watching her bustle out, apparently quite pleased with herself. He looked to his assistant, who he noted was trying desperately to school features. "Corina, if you'd be so good, could you please hold all of my appointments for this afternoon, I'm afraid I have some matters that demand my attention."

"Of course Minister," She said, offering a small nod in return.

With that he made his way into his office. Closing the door after himself he paused looking over the room, which as early as this morning, he'd been proud of.

Now, things seemed a bit different to him.

He'd long aspired to this office, it'd been his dream, ever since he'd left Hogwarts, a fresh faced Hufflepuff, working his hardest as a new hire into the Ministry. He remembered those days well, working his way up the ladder, slowly but sure, but hitting the ceiling of where someone with his limited connections and wealth could reach.

He remembered how disappointed he'd been, to learn that some positions would forever be out of reach for him.

Until Malfoy had come to him and offered his support in his latest bids to rise up the ladder again. He'd been so desperate to prove he could work his way past the barriers he faced that he'd fell on the man's offer gladly, and been pleasantly surprised when he found that following Malfoy's various suggestions inevitably made things easier on him. They eventually netted him additional funds or support for his bid for Minister years later.

Donations…that's what Malfoy had called them.

Bribes, that's what they really were. No matter how gently and subtly given. He'd always known that on some level, but had willfully ignored that uncomfortable truth. Perhaps on some level he'd known a part of him, that honest idealistic Hufflepuff part of him which had lingered in the deep recesses in his heart, would have balked if he accepted them in those terms.

Now, he looked to his various photographs around the room with a more cynical eye. And there he was. Lucius Malfoy, always in the background, but seeming to loom ever closer with each passing achievement. He wished he could deny it, but he suspected he knew precisely why Lucius had chosen him above all other to raise to the office of Minister.

If he was being honest with himself, which he rarely was these days. He hadn't been the brightest, hardest working or most politically astute candidate for Minister. So why had Malfoy chosen him?

Because he'd known, even then, that Cornelius would be the most easily manipulated.

Amelia had been fairly blunt in pointing out Malfoy's failings, how he'd been using Cornelius. So that's what he'd been wasn't it? A Dupe, a bumbling, well intentioned, but highly useful pawn.

He sighed as that notion took root in his mind. So, that was what he'd become was it? He wondered what that young idealistic version of him all those years ago would have made of him now?

He pulled open the drawer to his desk and looked at the Hufflepuff scarf he'd secreted there years ago. At one point he'd worn that thing nearly every day.

Now…he never wore it. Part of that was the knowledge that people seldom took a Hufflepuff seriously. Unless they were like Madam Bones and could practically gut you with a look.

But he suspected part of it had been the subconscious feeling that he wasn't really worthy of wearing those colours anymore.

He cast the scarf one last worried glance before closing the drawer, and sitting himself down at his desk. Then, a small smirk crossed his lips. Yes, he'd been used. No…he'd practically allowed himself to be used, but that didn't mean he had to let that continue.

After all, there were important matters afoot. And if he could make things somewhat easier for Madam Bones to do her job? Well, maybe he'd be able to sleep tonight without his regrets haunting him.

A part of him whispered worriedly that this could cost him his position as Minister, but he found, quite liberatingly, that he didn't seem to care.

He drew a sheet of parchment from another drawer.

Yes, he could do this at least.

* * *

Amelia paced behind her desk, considering the bunch across the desk from her. Mad Eye, Kingsley, Hestia Jones and Robards all stood waiting for her to fill them in on their new assignments.

She had plans to track down Saul Croaker and get his assistance after she was done here. The Unspeakables might be able to shed some light on things she'd witnessed in Harry's memories.

Shaking off that reflection she addressed those currently present. "We've had a rather large collection of important cases land in our laps today." She informed them, ceasing her pacing. "It is not feasible to pursue all five cases at the same time, though this does not entirely work against us, I'll admit. Our job going forward with the largest of these cases will be significantly easier if we can quickly get the others sorted to our satisfaction."

She placed her hands on the rack of memory phials. "I will be handling the two largest cases personally, though I will call upon each of you should I need assistance."

She looked each one of them in the eye in turn, before looking back to Moody. "Now, Mad Eye, I have a witness at Saint Mungo's with Auror Trainee Tonks. I need you to speak with him about his experience in 2012 and 2013 in regards to Lucius Malfoy." The aurors shifted, glancing at each other when she mentioned the 'former' death eater. "In particular I need you to utilize this witness to gain access to the house elf known as Dobby."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, which really was not a good look on the grizzled old auror, it was after all fairly unusual to require the aid of a house elf for an investigation, but she continued regardless. "You are to utilize any and all information gleaned from this witness and the house elf Dobby to aid you in a raid on Malfoy manor. You'll be looking for dark artifacts and any sign of Death Eater memorabilia. I also have access to memories provided by that same witness which may prove useful in your investigation."

She paused, ensuring he understood before continuing. "I should have a warrant for you upon your return from interviewing the witness and house elf, either way, I want you to bring in Lucius Malfoy for questioning at the end of the proceedings. You will have Auror Robards assisting you."

Mad Eye nodded acceptance, before settling in to wait. He knew there would be more, considering he had not been dismissed yet.

Turning her attention to the others Amelia continued, "Aurors Jones and Shacklebolt, your investigation will run in parallel to Mad Eye's. Though you have a very different target." She said, settling herself back in her chair, "The witness is a minor, and has been living with his muggle relatives virtually his entire life. My own inquiries indicate that his home environment was abusive. Just how abusive is something I need you determine, but either way we'll be throwing the book at these people."

She once again indicated the memory phials on her desk. "These memories should help corroborate both investigations." The aurors glanced at the phials in question and more than one of them winced, knowing that they'd likely be viewing first hand recollections of the abuse.

"The muggle family's name is Dursley. They live at Number 4, Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey. I have reason to believe a highly placed official within our government may attempt to interfere with the investigation. Under no circumstances is this to be allowed." She cautioned them.

"If it is determined by our investigation that the Dursleys are guilty then we shall ultimately be turning them over to the muggle authorities to be dealt with." She informed them, before pressing on when they indicated understanding. "Good, now—" She cut off at the soft 'shump!' Sound of a messenger tube arriving in the chute built into the rear of her office. She reached over to it and withdrew the messages, opening them, before feeling her eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Well, it seems we have our warrants Mad Eye. Here you go one warrant for a search and seizure at Malfoy Manor, Ministerial authority." She said handing over the relevant parchment, keeping the one citing the authority to investigate Hogwarts for herself.

Mad Eye stumped forward and took the warrant before turning to walk back to his previous spot, only to pause and stare at the far wall for a moment.

"Heads up boss, Umbridge just walked into your waiting room." He informed her.

She couldn't help the small smirk at that, this would actually work out in their favour.

"We're done here," She informed them, pushing back to her feet. "Keep all of this quiet people. I want to limit outside interference as long as we can. You are dismissed."

As they started towards the door she called out one last time, "Oh, and Mad Eye? Send her in would you. Dolores and I need to have a 'conversation' about the meaning of the word 'confidential'." She said, a shark like smile playing across her lips.

He grinned for a moment, "You got it boss."

* * *

 **Thanks to my betas:** twilliams1797, Rimtuuk, zcnk & Temporal Knight. Also special thanks to Mordreek for being an ideas taster a while back when I was kicking this idea around. **Update:** Also thanks to Volksbrot, Q Elwyn D and Bonsly24 as of oct.22.2019.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Alright, on a bit of a roll with this story at the moment. So here's another chapter. Slightly longer than the last one I believe! Hope you enjoy it!

As ever please read, comment, review, subscribe etc.

 **Update:** Edited and updated as of Oct.22.2019.

* * *

There was a knock at the door, and Andromeda paused, shooting Harry an apologetic look, putting away one of the diagnostic wands, before striding over to the door and pulling it open. There was the murmur of voices Harry couldn't quite catch and she stepped back admitting two people into the room.

"Hello Mad Eye, Kingsley, I assume Amelia sent you?" She said as they stepped within, causing Harry's eyes to widen as he took in one of the men entering the room.

Mad Eye, who was rather easy to identify, was without a doubt the most heavily scarred individual Harry had ever encountered. Frankly, it looked like he'd gone twelve rounds with a rabid wolverine and lost, especially if that artificial leg was anything to go by. That electric blue artificial eye was something else too!

"Aye, that she did lass, sorry for interrupting you." Here he paused glancing over at Harry, before grunting and looking back to Andromeda. "Hm, I can see why she was so circumspect about who we'd be interviewing."

Andromeda waved off his apology with a small smile, "It is no problem Mad Eye, and yes this is Harry Potter."

"You're here to interview me?" Harry asked, feeling somewhat shy in the face of so much attention.

Mad Eye nodded, "That we are lad, she said you had something of a run in last year with Lucius Malfoy I'd want to hear about."

Kingsley took a step forward, "She also wanted me to interview you about your relatives." His eyes became compassionate as Harry struggled to keep from looking at his feet.

"No need to be embarrassed lad, we've seen just about everything over the years," Mad Eye stated, his voice surprisingly gentle.

There was another knock and Tonks returned bearing some tea for her mother. "Hey Mad Eye, Kingsley."

Conjuring a set of chairs the new arrivals seated themselves across from Harry. "Now, which of us would you prefer to start with lad?"

Harry considered that, it was a fairly easy choice for him, he'd prefer to put off discussing his relatives as long as possible. "Malfoy," he stated unequivocally. The group spent the next several minutes going over the incident in question, and by the end of it both Kingsley and Mad Eye were looking particularly grim.

"Always knew Malfoy was a coward, but trying to curse a kid like that?" Mad Eye growled, before shaking his head. "Don't rightly know what Albus is thinking keeping this to himself like this, he should'a reported it." Harry couldn't help but nod firmly in agreement.

Mad Eye glanced at Harry again, his expression unreadable for a moment, before he grunted nodding. "Alright, that's enough of that. Do you think that house elf would respond if you called him?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, but I could give it a try, what do I have to do?"

Mad Eye shifted in his seat, "All you have to do lad is call his name with the intent of getting his attention. If he's as attached to you as I suspect he is, he'll hear it and come running."

Harry nodded, before clearing his throat, "Uh…Dobby? Could you come here?"

There was a brief pause, followed by a pop as Dobby appeared before him. Harry blinked in surprise upon seeing the odd manner of dress Dobby had taken up since becoming free. The fluorescent green boxer shorts were just plain bizarre to behold.

"Master Harry Potter Sir bes calling for Dobby?" The elf said hopefully.

Harry blinked at the somewhat longer form of address, "Um, yes, hello Dobby. I—" He corrected himself, "We need to talk to you."

Dobby nodded, before looking to the others in the room expectantly.

"Dobby, I'm Master Auror Moody. We're building a case against your former master, Lucius Malfoy, and could use your help."

"Lucius was a bad old master!" Dobby yelped, "He did terrible things."

Mad Eye nodded, apparently unfazed by Dobby's excitable nature. "I know, that's why we're building a case against him. I have plenty of evidence already, but we plan to raid Malfoy Manor." He said briskly. "Problem is, any time we aurors have raided the place in the past we've come up empty, do you know where we might find some more evidence?"

Dobby nodded so hard his ears flapped, "Dobby knows. There is a room, hidden beneath the drawing room floor, Master Auror Moody Sir. It has all of bad old master's death eatery stuffs in it!" He said eagerly.

Mad Eye frowned, and shared a dark look with Kingsley. "I've been a part of the raids in the past Dobby; I never noticed that room." He said tapping his finger next to his magical eye.

Dobby nodded knowingly, "Bad old master had old elves put up special elf wards to protect against Master Auror Moody sir's magic eye!"

Moody considered that before grumbling under his breath for a moment, then nodded. "Aye, that'd do it alright, this thing's made to see through wizard magic and solid objects. Elf magic in particular is tricky though. Really good for hiding stuff as I recall from the folklore." He said. "Do you know how to access that room Dobby?"

Dobby nodded, less forcefully this time, wringing the edge of his boxer shorts with his hands. "There is a candlestick on the wall by the book cases Master Auror Moody Sir! Just pull on it and the room will open!"

Mad Eye snorted, "What is this, a bad muggle mystery book?" He asked rhetorically. "Very good, anything else Dobby?"

Dobby shook his head, again causing his ears to flap, before turning his attention to Harry. "Does Master Harry Potter Sir need anything from Dobby?"

Harry gave serious consideration to asking Dobby why he was referring to him so deferentially, but decided it would be best to refrain for now. He could ask Dobby later. "No Dobby, that's all for now."

Dobby bowed before popping away again.

"Further proof house elves see magic differently," Moody grumbled. "He just popped through the Hospital wards without stopping, didn't he?"

"Actually this area isn't warded against house elves," Andromeda said, looking up from her own notes which she'd been perusing while they talked. "This is just admitting and general healing down here, the other floors are warded against such things."

Nodding in understanding Kingsley sat forward in his chair, eyes finding Harry's. "You good Mad Eye?" He asked.

Moody grunted, "Yeah, go ahead, it's your turn now."

Kingsley smiled encouragingly at Harry. "Alright now, young man, are you up for talking about your relatives now?"

Harry sighed, he wasn't really, but he reckoned it would be best to get this over with, so he nodded.

"Very good," Kingsley said, "Now, let us start with the basics…"

* * *

"You can't do this to me!" Umbridge shrieked as she was rather bodily dragged down the hall towards the exit.

"I absolutely can Dolores," Amelia countered, casting the struggling woman a glance "You broke your confidentiality agreement with the department. As such, you are no longer allowed to hold a position within the department or the ministry as a whole."

Dolores was shaking her head now, "No, no. The Minister! I want to see the Minister, he—" She started, only to be cut off be a sharp gesture from Amelia.

"Idiot, who was it that sent you to me?" Amelia reminded, her. Not so long before Umbridge had been proud to tell Amelia just who she'd come from seeing.

Dolores' eyes widened as that permeated her brain, "B-but—"

Amelia shook her head tiredly, "Get her out of here, I'll send a message to the Unspeakable about adjusting the wards to bar her entrance." She murmured. "Maybe I'll see if I can't track down Croaker while I'm down there." She said to herself. Croaker had yet to show himself despite her earlier message to him.

"Nooo…" Umridge wailed as she was taken away.

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy opened the door to the Manor, and was surprised to see a full squad of Aurors standing on the front steps. She'd known of course that it was the aurors calling, thanks in large part to the elf who'd been sent to see who was ringing at the gates. She'd just been unaware they had brought so many. It was therefore a testament to her poise that she didn't allow her surprise to show on her face.

"Auror Moody," She greeted cooly, eyeing the scarred old Auror cautiously. "Another raid is it? Don't you ever grow tired of these games?"

Moody didn't react visibly to her imperious gaze, returning it in turn with a blank stare of his own. She fought down a shiver as that electric blue eye fixed on her face. She didn't like how much it felt like he was gazing into her soul when he looked upon her with that thing.

"Missus Malfoy," He greeted eventually. "Your husband in?"

She offered a mocking sneer, "Why, can't you see for yourself Auror Moody?" She challenged. It was something of a bone of contention in some circles that the Master Auror was allowed to keep his magical eye, considering how many private things it could potentially allow its wearer to intrude on. However, each of the three times it had been brought before the wizengamot, those seeking its removal had failed to garner the votes and support necessary to get it banned. Not the least of which because the Ministry 'frowned' upon targeting specific people with its rulings.

It helped, she supposed, that most people who knew him even a little, could attest to the fact that his character was such that it wouldn't allow him to spy on others for anything besides professional reasons. That didn't stop some high end clothiers from weaving elven spells of concealment into their lines of undergarments, solely in response to Moody's eye being constructed.

Mad Eye just nodded, unperturbed by her attitude. "I can," He grumbled, "But it'd be rude not to ask."

She sighed, "He's upstairs with my son," She informed him. In fact, last she knew Lucius had been going over his expectations of his son's behaviour for the last hour. Something she was certain Draco found dreadfully boring after the first five minutes.

"Actually, my dear, I've come to see what all the fuss is about." Lucius' voice came drifting down the stairs behind her, and she turned to see her husband slowly making his way down towards her. Draco, she noticed was standing up near the top eyeing the aurors distrustfully.

Lucius' eyes fell on Moody, "Ah, Auror Moody, I trust you have a warrant? If not, I'll be contacting your superiors with another harassment complaint."

Moody nodded, pulling a scroll from his coat and presenting it quietly to Narcissa. "I do, a warrant to bring you in for questioning and to search your residence."

Lucius was suitably thrown by that declaration, Narcissa could understand why, considering how many palms he regularly greased to ensure things like this were unlikely to happen. Curious now, Narcissa finished unrolling the scroll, glancing it over quickly, only to freeze when she saw whose name was on the bottom of the scroll. Cornelius Oswald Fudge.

In the past, whenever there had been a raid, it had been authorized by one of the Chief Warlocks or the Head of the DMLE. This time it was on the authority of the Minister himself. She couldn't help the way the colour leached from her face as she handed it off to Lucius, who also paled in turn.

"Yes, well…" Lucius huffed, collecting himself quickly. "I assure you Auror Moody, you will find nothing amiss here. Nevertheless I think I shall be contacting my barrister before we depart."

There was the sound of scuffing feet behind them, "Father, is everything alright?" Draco asked.

Lucius glanced sideways at his son, "Just another search and seizure Draco, nothing to worry about. Auror Moody here is nothing if not persistent."

Moody appeared unimpressed by Lucius' continued assurances. "You will be granted access to a ministry owl at the DMLE Mister Malfoy. Now, go with these men here."

Lucius grudgingly nodded, before snapping his fingers, causing an elf to appear beside him. "I need my coat elf. Bring it to me."

It was but a moment before the elf was back with the coat and Lucius was pulling it on.

"Will you be accompanying your husband Missus Malfoy?" Moody asked gruffly.

She nodded stiffly, "I will. Tippy?" She called, and the elf reappeared. "I shall also be needing my coat." While the elf attended to that she turned her attention to her son. "Draco darling - unless it is prohibited by the Aurors - would you like to go visit the Parkinsons while we are away?"

Here she looked to Moody who shrugged, "It's no skin off our noses. Robards, go with him to ensure he doesn't touch anything on his way out, and shut down the floo once he's gone."

Draco nodded slowly, "Of course mother. Auror Robards, the floo is just this way."

As her son and his tail departed Narcissa turned to regard the aurors as one of them stepped forward. "Auror Constance Hammer, Mister and Missus Malfoy, if you'll follow us we'll side-along you to the DMLE."

As she stepped down the path following the Aurors to the ward line, Narcissa couldn't help but wonder, just what had her husband gotten them into this time?

* * *

As the door closed behind the Malfoys Mad Eye stepped forward raising the warrant scroll in front of himself, before calling in a loud clear voice. "Malfoy Elves, on Ministerial authority, please present yourselves."

There was a flash from the scroll, one of the handful of enchantments upon it working to ensure the elves heard the summons. It couldn't force them to come of course, not even their master's call could do that. Only a few had the will to ignore this imperative however, so Moody had little fear they would not comply upon hearing the order.

There was a firecracker-like crackle as the elves, one by one, popped in until there were five in total standing before him. A rather sorry lot he decided, clad in pillowcases and rags as they were. "This all of you then?" He asked, knowing his authority would likely have them tell him if one was missing.

"Yes Auror, this bes everyone…" Tippy said timidly.

He eyed the elf carefully for a moment, before concluding that she was being honest. Nevertheless, for the sake of thoroughness he cast his magical eye over the house to be sure.

Finally he nodded, grunting in satisfaction. "Good. You will all remain here, under the eye of Auror Savage until we opt to leave. Understood? Disobeying will result in stiff punishments for you and your masters."

The elves shivered at the implied threat but nodded. They undoubtedly knew that in this case DMLE authority legally outranked that of their owners. So disobeying would have serious consequences. Though again, that didn't mean that they were incapable of disobeying if they wished to badly enough.

Robards returned, idly dusting himself off. "The kid's off to the Parkinson's place. I locked down the floo after he left."

Moody nodded his thanks to the man, "Good, now then, come with me, I seem to recall the drawing room being near the back on the first floor."

Robards snorted in amusement, "You know, that really does prove that you've raided this place too many times Mad Eye, if you know the layout that well."

Mad Eye grimaced, "Found out only recently why I didn't find anything the previous times, Malfoy was clever enough to find a way to fool my eye. Not this time though…"

He led the other auror through the house towards the back, ignoring the mutters and stares of the various portraits watching them from their places on the walls. It took less than a minute to find the drawing room, right where he remembered it.

"The elf said it'd be in here." He muttered as he cast his eye over the place, it really was an ingenious illusion, assuming the elf was correct, he truly could see nothing but dirt and bedrock beneath the floor of the room.

Stumping over the the bookcases he looked over the candlesticks set into the wall, soon finding one which moved when he tugged on it. He smirked in satisfaction, before pulling the disguised switch properly, causing a section of the floor to thump audibly and then slide aside revealing a stairway leading down into darkness.

He silently cast lumos, igniting his wand which he raised before him, only then slowly starting down the stairs, casting detection spells as he went. Sure enough, he found no less than three wards and a rather nasty fire trap along the way, which he disabled one by one before stepping out into a dimly lit room.

"Here, let me get the light." Robards murmured, and soon several torches along the walls were roaring and the room was illuminated before them.

Mad Eye couldn't help the feral grin as he spotted the table with the Death Eater regalia spread across it.

That grin only lasted until he spotted a door along the far wall, and what lay beyond. "Robards," He rasped, "open that door." He said nodding to it, eyes fixed on what he'd spotted in the space beyond.

Robard did so, pausing only to ensure it wasn't trapped in some way. The door soon swung open, its hinges creaking quietly as the corridor beyond was revealed to them. A corridor lined with cells.

* * *

"Alright Harry, I think we're done here." Andromeda said, causing him to sigh in relief as she set aside yet another diagnostic wand. They'd been at this for hours and he was getting rather sore from sitting on the examination table so long.

"Now, none of that young man. I know none of this has been particularly fun, but it is necessary in order to ensure your health." She informed him, as she jotted down some notes on her clipboard.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry." He murmured.

Andromeda couldn't help the small sigh which made it past her lips at the unusually deferential way Harry referred to her.

"No need for that Harry, you can call me Andy, I'm a distant cousin after all, and I was friends with your parents." She informed him kindly.

Harry hesitated, before his eyes slid searchingly to her own, "Ma—Andy, if you were friends with my parents…"

"Why didn't I check up on you?" She asked, making an educated guess based on what had been revealed throughout Harry's time with them at the hospital.

He nodded.

She sighed again, "I did, or rather, I tried to Harry. I spoke often with Dumbledore, trying to get a chance to see you, trying to find out how you were doing." She informed him, before grimacing, "He was remarkably tight lipped; any time I asked he merely said that you were well, and that I couldn't come see you or I'd risk endangering you."

Harry nodded sadly in understanding, and she placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, ignoring his slight flinch as she made contact. "I'm here now Harry, my family and I both. We won't be leaving you without someone to help you again."

He offered a small grateful smile in return. "Thank you…Andy."

She smiled encouragingly at him. "You're welcome, now, let's see about getting you back to the DMLE. I need to see to Sirius, and Amelia will be able to help us with that. Then maybe we can see about getting you two somewhere more comfortable."

He got down off the table, standing a little unsteadily for a moment as his legs regained their feeling, only then following her from the room.

"Hey you two, ready to go?" Tonks asked, straightening from where she'd been leaning up against the wall.

"Yes Dora, we're headed back to the DMLE now," Andromeda informed her daughter.

They made their way back out to the reception area, where they paused briefly as Andromeda headed over the welcome witch. "Janet, please inform the Head Healer I've been called away to deal with something on the request of the Director of the DMLE."

The other woman nodded, "Of course Healer Tonks."

With that finished, they made their way to the floos. Dora threw some floo powder into the flames, turning them green, "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, main lobby." She said before disappearing into the flames.

Andromeda waved Harry forward, "You first Harry, I'll follow on."

Harry mimicked Tonks, throwing the powder into the flames before calling out his destination and watching his world disappear in a whirl of colour and sound, only to be fired out the other end and sent skidding across the DMLE lobby's floor.

Andromeda arrived just as Tonks was helping him back to his feet.

It took a few minutes to negotiate their way through the bullpen where the other aurors were working on their paperwork, too many curious aurors, friends wanting to get together with Tonks after work, and senior aurors requesting updated files, thankfully Tonks was able to put them all off for the moment and get them on their way again after citing Madam Bones was waiting on them.

Tonks greeted Kelly as they entered the Directors waiting room a short time later, "Hey Kelly, we're back, is the boss lady busy?"

Kelly smiled upon seeing who it was, "Hey Auror Tonks, she's not busy, you missed a good show a little over an hour ago though."

"Oh? What'd we miss?" Tonks asked, curious.

"The Boss finally sacked Umbridge, banned her from a job at the ministry for violating confidentiality." Kelly said, a conspiratorial glint in her eyes.

Tonks whistled appreciatively, "About time, that woman was such a toad."

Kelly nodded her emphatic agreement as she pushed to her feet, "I heard Auror Savage was intending to requisition a pensieve so everyone could see it for themselves. I'll just let the Director know you're back," she informed them before opening the door and sticking her head inside.

For a moment, Harry thought she was mouthing something silently to her boss, before it registered with him that the door must have been warded against sound.

She withdrew her head a couple moments later and stood back as Madam Bones exited the office. "Ah, Andromeda, good to see you again. Everything in order now?"

Andromeda shook her head, "No, but we're working on it. I'll be seeing to the potions regimen once I'm done here. You mentioned I had another patient to see to though?"

Amelia nodded, "I do, if you three will just follow me…"

Reaching the interview rooms involved following her down a couple floor where she led them along a hallway to a door being guarded by an Auror. "I had to read in a couple more aurors so I could have the door guarded without causing a ruckus." She confided, before pushing open the door and leading them inside.

They found Sirius stretched out on a couch reading the Daily Prophet, looking up as they entered, visibly brightening when he spotted his cousin and struggling to his feet. "Andy!" He greeted.

Harry saw tears had started to collect in the corners of the woman's eyes as she hurried forward to embrace him. "I've missed you Sirius," She murmured into his shoulder.

"Missed you too Andy," He croaked, choked up as he was.

She stepped back and held him at arms length for a moment, looking him over with a critical glint in her eyes, before she sighed, nodding. "Azkaban wasn't kind to you. I've got a lot of work ahead of me it seems."

He gave her a quizzical look at that, so she explained. "I've been assigned as your healer by Amelia. But first…" She said, turning to look at Amelia. "Am I doing this here, or do we have a plan to move him and Harry elsewhere first?"

Amelia paused considering that. "I had intended to send them to one of the Department's safe houses. However if you have a better alternative?"

"Well, there's always Grimmauld I suppose," said Sirius, appearing less than pleased with the idea. Apparently he wasn't the only one with doubts, as Andromeda gave him a skeptical look, causing him to explain. "What? I may hate the place, but you'd better believe it has solid wards. Also, who in the hell is going to look for Harry and I there?"

Andromeda sighed, nodding her head, conceding the point. "That may be true, but it's also been abandoned since your mother passed. You know what a house like Grimmauld will be like after that long. That's assuming Kreacher is still around trying to keep the place up. But what if he's dead?"

Sirius grumbled something Harry couldn't quite catch, and left him wondering who, or what, Kreacher was. Finally Sirius shrugged, "True, but that could be fixed easily enough."

Andromeda slid him a chiding look, "You could just stay at my place for a while you know." She suggested him calmly.

Sirius paused, giving that some thought, "Perhaps you're right, I'd still like to sneak into Gringotts some time and get the ball rolling with some contractors though. The house will need clearing out either way I suppose."

"Do you intend to take up position as Head of House Black?" Andromeda asked him.

This seemed to bring Sirius up short for a moment, and he frowned. "I don't know, either way though I have business with Gringotts."

"Why Gringotts?" Harry asked, interrupting the conversation causing the adults to all look to him curiously. "I mean, they're a bank right? Why would they help you clean your house?"

Sirius' expression cleared first as understanding came over him, "The Goblins main business is a combination of warding and banking." He explained patiently. "They also pull in a lot of money by sending out cursebreakers teams to raid old tombs and break into secure locations looking for gold and such."

Andromeda stepped forward here, "He's right, however they also make a good deal of their money by acting as go betweens or brokers for people looking to pay for a particular service. That a clean up of Grimmauld will likely require cursebreakers just means we'll be hiring them more directly."

Harry was nodding, but it was Amelia who spoke up next. "That could work. You going to Andromeda and Ted's I mean. Although you might want to send a message ahead warning Ted, Andromeda." She paused before looking to the pink haired auror. "Auror Tonks, why don't you handle that while you mother gives Sirius a preliminary check up?"

Andromeda nodded to her daughter who left the room after waving them all farewell. "Yes, wouldn't want to give him a heart attack by not warning him." She said as the door closed.

"She's grown up nicely. An auror too? You did a good job with her Andy." Sirius said.

Andromeda snorted, "She's a heathen, same as she ever was, but she's our heathen." She said before softening again and looking to Sirius, "Now, Sirius, I'm going to give you a look over. Do you want Harry here, or should we send him away for a while?"

Sirius looked at Harry, a stoic expression coming over his face, "It's up to you pup, do you want to stay or go?"

Harry blinked, surprised by the endearment, before smiling shyly. "I'd like to stay if that's okay."

Andromeda nodded approvingly. "Very well, Amelia if you'll give us some privacy, we'll begin."

* * *

It was only a short time later that Amelia Bones walked into interview room three, a report from Mad Eye clutched in her hands, her face studiously blank as she looked over the woman seated at the table across from her.

"May I ask why I've been separated from my husband?" Narcissa Malfoy asked, somehow managing to look down her nose at Amelia despite being seated at the time. "If this is an interrogation I demand our barrister be present."

Amelia cocked an eyebrow at the regal blonde, unimpressed by her imperious attitude. "Don't you mean your husband's barrister, Missus Malfoy? You are not on the list of employers provided to us by Mister Wilkes."

She took no small satisfaction in watching the way Narcissa blinked in consternation. "What?" Said the woman, uncertain she'd heard Amelia correctly.

"Your husband, it seems, did not see fit to hire the services of Mister Wilkes in your name. And as he is not currently employed by you, and is in fact busy providing legal council to your husband, he is unavailable at this time."

If seeing Narcissa confused had been enjoyable, seeing her mouth pop open slightly in shock was positively delectable. "Should you choose to, you can attempt to hire him from your own wallet, as it were."

She noted the way Narcissa blanched with a fair degree of satisfaction. She suspected she knew the source of the other woman's concerns. A man like Lucius Malfoy wasn't one to trust his wife with more money than absolutely necessary, and would have kept a tight hold on her purse strings. In all likelihood Narcissa either lacked an account of her own, or at the very least lacked access to sufficient funds to hire someone of Mister Wilke's reputation.

"Or, if you wish, we could of course provide you with a public defender." Amelia finished, continuing in the same unhurried tone.

Narcissa swallowed thickly, visibly working to collect herself. "I—Am I being charged with something Madam Bones?"

Amelia shrugged, "Not yet, but that depends on how much I come to suspect you know about your husband's dealings. It's early yet, but my Aurors have already returned from your house with some interesting information." She said, pointedly tapping her finger on the folder in her hands.

Interesting was one word for it, she reflected to herself, disturbing, abhorrent and appalling would be others…

"Now, did you wish to hire Mister Wilkes, or a public defender?" She repeated.

Narcissa paused, eyes darting back and forth as she considered this turn of events quickly. She likely suspected on some level that Amelia was trying to rattle her to a certain degree, but she'd have to know that denying a barrister under false pretences would scrap any case Amelia could build before it started. Thus, by default, she'd be forced to believe what Amelia was saying.

"Very well, a public defender if you please…" Narcissa said, a moue of distaste colouring her words.

Amelia nodded in satisfaction and walked to the door, opening it and looking to a nearby auror. "If you'd call Emmeline Vance over, we have a client for her in here."

She closed the door, before pacing back to stand across the table from Narcissa. "Would you like anything to drink while we wait? Coffee, tea?" She suggested.

Narcissa, for her part considered Amelia blankly for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Tea please."

Amelia hummed in acknowledgement, "Locky?" She called.

There was a brief pause, then a pop as one of the departmental elves appeared. Locky and the other like him were clad in plain, reddish brown tunic and breeches, oddly reminiscent of an auror's trenchcoat.

"Yes, Madam Bones?" Locky asked, standing patiently at attention.

"Would you be so good as to bring us a serving of tea and coffee?" She asked.

The elf bowed in response, "Of course Madam Bones." He intoned before popping away only to return a few moments later with a serving tray.

She took the offered tray from him and set it on the table between her and Narcissa. "Thank you Locky, that will be all."

Again the elf bowed, before popping away once more.

"Sugar, milk?" Amelia asked, amiably, casting her eyes once more to Narcissa, who shifted uncomfortably under her attention.

"A half-spoon of sugar please." She replied after a moment.

Amelia did just that and stirred it in, before passing it across to Narcissa, who took it carefully before sipping from the cup, only to give a small start when there was a knock at the door.

Amelia set her coffee, which Locky had prepared for her, on the corner of the table, before walking to the door and opening it.

Emmeline Vance, who was now standing in the doorway was a tall, willow thin women with brown hair, tied back in a rough knot which was just starting to grey around her temples. A no nonsense type that Amelia felt fit fairly well with the department. "Ah, Emmeline, your client is ready for you. Don't worry, I haven't questioned her yet."

Emmeline, for her part, showed no discernible surprise at the identity of her client, simply nodding before walking over to greet Narcissa, who stood to meet her. They shook hands and then Emmeline offered a small sheaf of papers to her. "My credentials," She said, as Narcissa took hold of them, before quickly starting to leaf through them. "I trust I will be satisfactory?"

Narcissa was already nodding, and Amelia understood why, Emmeline was, despite her position as a public defender, as skilled an attorney as one could hope for. Most attorneys with her employment and educational history were busy elsewhere, making the big money. That Emmeline chose instead to work for the DMLE was a testament to her character overriding her desire to fill her vault at Gringotts.

"Yes, you should do nicely. My thanks for your services in advance." Narcissa said, offering a small thin smile to the woman as she took a seat next to her at the table.

Amelia seated herself, as Narcissa did the same, before sliding a document from her file across the desk to the other woman. "Your rights and entitlements under the law. Be sure to give it a good look over, Emmeline will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have."

While the woman did precisely that, Amelia drank her coffee and set about organizing her files according to the likely order in which the upcoming conversation would proceed. She waited until Narcissa nodded her thanks to Emmeline, who sat back in her chair once they were finished, and put down the documents on the table in front of herself.

"Very well, if you are ready, let us begin." Amelia intoned calmly.

Narcissa visibly steeled herself, and Amelia fought down a smirk at the knowledge that she'd unnerved the notoriously unshakable woman. "I shall be plain Missus Malfoy, your husband is in great deal of trouble, though he does not know it just yet. He is still speaking with Mister Wilkes last I knew."

Narcissa nodded understanding, her eyes sharpening as she considered her situation. Amelia carried on regardless, "I have, in evidence, verified memories from a witness who saw your husband attempt to cast an unforgivable curse on a minor. That he failed, due to interference, is a minor mitigating circumstance at best."

Narcissa winced, and Amelia nodded, satisfied that she understood the gravity of the situation arising before her. "I also had sufficient evidence to have gained the Minister's support for a warrant to search your home again. However, we'll come back to that in a few minutes."

Amelia fixed her grey eyes on Narcissa's blue ones, "I will ask you this just once Narcissa, and bear in mind that I very well may be dosing you with veritaserum when this comes to trial. Did you know of your husband's part in the events that occurred at Hogwarts this past year?"

The woman across the table cocked her head, brow furrowing in concentration, "I know that Lucius went to the school multiple times last year in his capacity as a school governor, however I suspect that is not your meaning."

Amelia carefully gauged Narcissa's bearing before continuing, "Then you know nothing of his part in sneaking a dark artefact into the school, or the part this artefact played in the…incidents which occurred over the last year?"

Narcissa's eyes once again sharpened, and her expression turned stoney. "I know that there were a series of attacks Lucius and the board were informed of. Are you saying that Lucius was involved in instigating those attacks?"

The director considered Narcissa and the wary, slightly dangerous edge to her tone as she asked that. "I have evidence, in the forms of two eye witness testimonies, and verified memories, that your husband conspired to introduce a dark artefact to the school which, upon possessing one of the students, caused said student to release a basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets."

Again Amelia was gratified when Narcissa showed visible shock, but allowed none of that to show on her own face as she pressed on. "It is only by luck that no one was killed by said basilisk, before it was slain. Thankfully the victims were merely petrified by the reflections of its gaze rather than being outright killed."

Narcissa looked stunned for a moment, before an angry mien came over her, "Are you telling me that you have evidence that my husband had a part in releasing a class five dangerous beast into a school? One where our own son was being taught." She hissed irately.

Amelia fought down another satisfied smirk, she'd played her part well. Narcissa's love of her son was well known, and an angry Narcissa was a useful weapon for Amelia to wield against the woman's husband.

"That is exactly what I am telling you." Amelia agreed.

Watching Narcissa war with herself internally, was immensely satisfying, as the woman twitched and jerked several times as she fought to get herself under control. Finally, after about a minute, Narcissa once again stilled, "Tell me what you found at our house. What else has Lucius been doing?" She asked, a dangerous calm overtaking her.

Amelia gathered up a series of photographs which she slid across the table to the woman. "We found these in a chamber beneath the drawing room floor." She explained patiently. "And, as you can see-"

She paused indicating a couple pictures in particular. "He was keeping Death Eater regalia and some of the associated memorabilia in there. In addition: he was storing—" She slid several pictures across the table now, "Quite a collection of dark artefacts."

Narcissa looked the pictures over quickly, before nodding a touch stiffly, and Amelia pressed on, "What is more concerning, especially for you, if you had any part in it was this…"

Here, she passed over the final series of pictures Mad Eye had taken. In them were eight, pale, underfed and clearly abused young women.

"These women, girls really, the youngest of which is just fourteen, were found in the dungeon attached to the aforementioned chamber beneath your drawing room floor." She said, stoically. "Now, I need to know, did you have anything to do with this?"

Narcissa stared at the pictures of the women, and was silent for a long time before shaking her head. "No…." She rasped, before clearing her throat. "No, while I will confess to knowing that Lucius was once a Death Eater, and that he sometimes dealt in less than legal goods, I did not know that my husband was torturing people. Worse, that he was doing so in our own home." She managed to grind out, her voice suddenly raw and uneven.

She paused, and Amelia waited, anticipating Narcissa's impending response to the revelations she'd just presented to her. "May I speak to my husband now," Narcissa murmured, before looking up to stare at Amelia. "There is something I need to know from him, before this goes any further."

Amelia considered that, typically it was considered bad form, though not strictly against protocol to have two suspects in the same room as each other. However…she suspected what was about to happen would be quite revealing.

Finally she nodded, "Very well, if you will follow me."

They stood and Amelia led them from the room, then down the hall to the room where Lucius was waiting with his attorney. Amelia opened the door, stepping aside to allow Narcissa inside. Narcissa brushed past her quickly, before stalking angrily across the room towards Lucius who stood to meet her.

"Did you show Draco what you were hiding in our home Lucius? Did you show him?" She demanded again, when he didn't immediately answer her, and Amelia suddenly understood just what had finally set Narcissa off.

"Narcissa, what are you—" Lucius began nervously, his eyes darting to Amelia.

His wife cut him off with a sharp gesture, "She has photographic evidence Lucius, they found your little playpen beneath the drawing room floor!" She shouted, voice once again raw, causing Lucius to pale drastically.

"So, answer me Lucius, did you show Draco those women?" She demanded.

Lucius was ghostly white now and gaping.

"Lucius…" Wilkes started, only to be drowned out when Lucius finally replied. "No, I did not. He is only thirteen." He forced past nearly bloodless lips.

Narcissa stared at him hard. "Were you planning on showing him eventually? Were you planning on making him join in on whatever sick little games you were playing down there?" She asked.

Apparently his silence was as good as an admission of guilt for Narcissa. She moved fast, slapping him hard across the face, then, before he could recover she caught him with a backhand, sending him reeling.

"You son of a bitch," She howled. "Not only did you dare to do those things to another human being, something you'd promised me that you'd never done, not only did you bring it into our home, but you intended to show our son that?"

She stepped back, shaking her head in denial. "I'm done Lucius, what you have done…it's beyond forgiveness."

Lucius sneered at her, wiping his now bleeding nose on the back of his hand. "Oh please, do not play innocent Narcissa, you knew what I was when you married me!"

"Lucius please—" Started Wilkes, only to shut up when Narcissa levelled a glare at him that could have bored a hole through steel, causing him to shrink back.

"I knew you supported a traditionalist agenda, as I did, I knew you supported the Dark Lord, I knew you allowed him to brand you like an animal. I knew you sometimes dealt with less than upstanding citizens." She growled, unintimidated by his own glare. "But I did not know you were a monster Lucius, not like some of the others who served the Dark Lord, who were more obvious in their leanings. I thought you were civilized! I did not know that you wished to turn our son into a monster too! Nor did I ever suspect that you'd endanger that same son by releasing a GODSDAMNED BASILISK in the school which he attends!"

Again Lucius paled, the flush he'd developed after being struck by Narcissa bleeding away. Narcissa straightened herself out, stepping back from him towards the door. "As to me knowing what you were when I married you? I knew very little about you then Lucius, I knew that my parents had arranged a marriage with a candidate from a wealthy family they considered suitable and I knew that they'd disown me if I refused."

Here she turned to regard Amelia, who was silently exulting at watching Narcissa tear a strip out of Lucius' hide. "Madam Bones, if you will support me in a divorce against Lucius and offer protection from prosecution for his crimes, I will give you everything, and I mean everything I know about Lucius, his Death Eater friends and the Dark Lord dating back to the last war."

Lucius snarled, "Traitorous bitch, I'll—" He began only to be cut off by a very strange sound, that of his soon to be ex-wife laughing.

"You'll what Lucius?" She asked, a touch of hysteria entering her voice. "You'll disown me perhaps? Or did you plan on threatening me with something rather more serious? Perhaps you intended to threaten to kill me? Rape me? Make me beg? Like you did to those young women?"

She stared at him, her blue eyes searching his for something. "My gods Lucius, the youngest one of those was fourteen!"

Finally Amelia felt it was time to step in, "Narcissa, I think that'll do for now, don't you? I accept your offer of cooperation."

Narcissa bobbed her head in thanks, then cast one last contemptuous look at her husband. "Yes, we're done here."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** FIRST thank you to my betas for this chapter. Rimtuuk, zcnk, twilliams 1797 and Temporal Knight. Also thank you to emblazed for helping as an ideas taster.

Once again, please review, it really helps the creative process. **Update:** Also thanks to Q Elwyn D, Volksbrot and Bonsly24 as of Oct.22.2019.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** And FINALLY, day one in this story will end. Things should begin to accelerate a bit from here on. I know some of you are really wondering how this story in any way connects with the old one. You should be seeing hints of how it does so in the next chapter or the one which follows. On another note. Just a reminder to any people who want to help support me in my endeavours, I have a PA TR EO N account. This is likely the only time I'll mention it in this story.

 **Update:** Edited and Updated as of Oct.22.2019.

* * *

Sirius tried not to be discouraged when his cousin sighed and put down her wand on the table. "That bad?" He asked a touch ruefully, causing her to look up at him.

She considered for a moment before shaking her head, "It could be much, much worse

Sirius, but that's neither here nor there at the moment," she explained, before pressing on, "In addition to the typical consequences of long term dementor exposure which are manifesting - nightmares, tremors, unusual twitching, sweating and so forth - you're also experiencing chills despite how warm it is in here."

"Um…" Came the tentative voice from his godson, resulting in the adults turning to look at him. Harry winced when he realized he'd interrupted them. "Sorry, sorry, I was just wondering, I don't know much about Dementors is all…"

Andromeda smiled sympathetically, "I'd consider yourself lucky in that regard. Dementors are…well, most people call them demons, but that's not entirely accurate. Demons struggle to maintain their form in our world for long without aid. Dementors don't suffer the same difficulties."

She paused, considering how to explain, "They exude this sense of…well, I guess the best way to put it is that they suck all the good feelings and memories out of you when they're near. They also cause a notable drop in temperature wherever they go."

She gestured to her cousin who was waiting patiently, "Sirius has been exposed to them for so long, he's not warming up properly any more."

Harry eyed his godfather worriedly, "Can you fix it?"

Andromeda smiled and nodded, "Yes, along with everything else. It'll just take time."

Sirius coughed, drawing attention back to himself, "Speaking of, what else is wrong with me?"

Again Andromeda sighed, "I can't speak to your mental state just yet, not my area of expertise, but your muscles are badly atrophied, and you're malnourished and underweight as well," she continued. "Also you have a few badly healed fractures. However, I think we can safely say your mind is likely to be in just as rough shape after so long at Azkaban."

Sirius gave her a sour look, "So I'm crazy then?"

She gave him an unfavourable look, "The word you're looking for is damaged, but no. In fact I'd say you're remarkably sane for someone who has just spent the last twelve years in a hellhole."

He nodded, conceding her point, before explaining a bit about just why that might be, "I knew I was innocent, so long as I could hold onto that, it wasn't as bad as it could have been."

She inclined her head, acknowledging his statement, "I'm no mind healer, I freely admit, but I think I can get you started on the path to recovery. We'll start with the basics, healthy body, healthy mind type stuff."

She grabbed up her wand again and slid it back into its holster around her wrist. "I think I'll go tell Amelia we're ready to depart. I trust I don't need to tell you to wait here?" She said rhetorically as she headed to the door. "I'll be right back," she promised.

The door closed with a click behind her.

Sirius turned his attention back to Harry who was sitting uncertainly on the end of the couch. It bothered him just how skinny Harry looked, and he felt a guilty pang as he suspected that Harry was just about as malnourished as he was. If he'd not run after Peter that night, well, hopefully Harry wouldn't have been forced to endure those wretched relatives of his.

It still boggled his mind to think that Petunia Dursley was in any way related to Lily. Two more different women it would be hard to find. Where Lily was warm and caring, Petunia was cold, aloof and vindictive.

"How are you holding up kid? You've had quite the couple days I'd say," Sirius ventured.

Harry smiled tiredly, "I'm pretty tired honestly, but I'm doing okay now, and Madam Bones said something about not having to worry about the underage magic thing, apparently it doesn't cover accidental magic."

Sirius quirked a small smile at the lad, "You did really great last night Harry. I never thought I'd be this far along the road to being free so soon after breaking out of Azkaban."

Harry smiled more genuinely this time, before shrugging, "I just did what you told me to. Madam Bones did most of it," he said modestly.

Sirius just shook his head, "Maybe, but your part in it was still important. So thank you."

Harry just nodded, so Sirius pressed on to some new topics, "So, I haven't had a chance to catch up on everything, but I assume you're going to Hogwarts? Do you like it there? Which house did you get sorted into, what's your favourite class, do you play Quidditch?" He babbled, his excitement for learning about Harry overriding his caution and manners.

Harry blinked in apparent surprise, perhaps not used to someone expressing an interest in his school life? Something told Sirius that Petunia and Vernon didn't care much one way or the other about that part of Harry's life. Still, Sirius realized he'd overstepped a bit, and adopted a chagrined expression.

"Sorry, I kinda let my mouth run away from me there…" He apologized.

Harry shook his head, "No, it's fine, you just caught me by surprise a bit." He admitted before pausing for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Yeah I really like it at Hogwarts, it's way better than Privet Drive, that's for sure."

Sirius couldn't help the small derisive snort at that, "Not hard to be better than that place, from what I saw."

Harry nodded, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Anyways, I got sorted into Gryffindor and my favourite class…well, I don't know really. I mean defence against the Dark Arts could be interesting, but my teachers the last couple of years…weren't that great."

Sirius could empathize with that, after all he'd endured the rotating list of Dark Arts professors in his time too. Occasionally one of them would be worth something, but the majority weren't.

"I guess, if I had to choose I'd say charms…" Harry speculated.

Sirius nodded, again that made a certain amount of sense to him, Lily had been great at charms. So had Prongs, come to think of it.

"Have you signed up for your electives yet?" He asked, curiously.

Harry nodded, then frowned. "Yes, but I'm not too sure if I'm happy with what I picked yet," he admitted. At Sirius' questioning expression he explained himself. "I picked Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. Ron said they'd be easiest."

Sirius chuckled. "Ah. This wouldn't happen to be Ron Weasley would it?"

Harry gave a small start, "Yes, how'd you know?"

His godfather shrugged, "I didn't really, just knew that a Ronald Weasley was going to Hogwarts. I saw that article in the Prophet about that family going on vacation to Egypt after winning that galleon prize lottery."

Harry's face shifted to one of understanding, and Sirius shrugged, getting back on topic. "Too bad that. Care can be lots of fun and interesting, but Divination is just so…" He paused, then winced, realizing how critical he likely sounded. "Sorry, I shouldn't criticize, not my place."

Harry just shrugged, "It's okay, why is Divination so bad though? Maybe I can change my courses before school starts?"

Sirius considered how to explain that, "Divination is one of those arts that you either have the talent for or you don't. You know, 'the sight'?" He explained, "I just mean that you're a seer or you're not. The rest is really just parlour tricks. And as I understand it, if you're a seer, you don't remember giving a prophecy in the first place."

Harry made a face at that, "That sounds kinda…lame, actually."

His godfather nodded seriously, "I found it that way, yes." Then smiled ruefully as Harry gave him a questioning look. "I made the same mistake, signing up for it because it's easy."

Harry seemed surprised by the admission, "What elective would you choose, knowing all that now?"

Sirius hadn't thought that far ahead, so he needed to pause to think that over. "Really depends on what you think you might want to do when you're older."

It was Harry's turn to look thoughtful now, "I don't know really. I mean, I kinda like the idea of helping people, and I know that cursebreaking sounds interesting from the bits I've heard about it."

Sirius nodded, not entirely comfortable with the idea of Harry pitting himself against magical traps in some forgotten tomb somewhere. "Well, I know that I wish I'd taken Runes and Arithmancy instead of Divination. I would have taken Muggle Studies, but heard from some of my friends that it was really out of date."

His godson cocked his curiously at him. "What can those be used for? The pamphlets weren't very clear…"

"Probably using the same blasted ones they were using when I was your age…" Sirius grumbled, before sighing. "Runes is really handy for enchanting or crafting wards. It also comes in handy for reading older books on magic. Your mum was a wiz at it too. As for Arithmancy, all they told us when I was your age was that it was sorta like divination but with numbers instead. Predicting stuff, you know? I learned later that it was right handy for wards as well and used in spell crafting and a bunch of other fields."

Harry chewed his cheek as he considered that, "I'll need to think that over some more, they do sound more interesting that Divination…"

Sirius nodded, "I hope you don't mind, but can I ask you if you play Quidditch again?"

Harry smiled, "Not at all, I love Quidditch, I play for Gryffindor actually."

Seeing his godson earned a smile in return from Sirius, "Oh, what position do you play?" He asked curiously.

"Seeker," Harry admitted, proudly.

Sirius whistled in appreciation, "Nice, your dad was a chaser. I tried out for beater a couple of times, but didn't make the cut the second time."

There was a knock at the door, cutting off anything Harry could have said to that, as Andromeda and Tonks entered towing Harry's things.

"Amelia is busy right now," Andromeda started without preamble, "but she left us a portkey to get you both out of here," She said, holding up a ring similar to the one Sirius had used to arrive at the DMLE in the first place.

"That was thoughtful of her," he allowed, still conflicted about how he should feel in regards to his old flame.

Andromeda smiled, as the two 'men' stood and walked up to her and her daughter. "Wotcher Harry," Tonks greeted the youth, "How are you holding up?"

Harry shrugged, "I'm okay, I'll be happy to get out of here though."

Tonks nodded, smiling sympathetically, before holding out her hand to take the ring off her mother. Once she had it she expanded it with her wand so all four of them could hold onto it. Then, before anyone could grab hold of it she raised a hand to stop them, placing it on top of Harry's trunk next to Hedwig's cage. "Just ensuring they both come along for the ride," She explained before casting spells at the trunk, cage and Hedwig.

Once satisfied she placed her hand on the ring, "Alright, everyone place your hands on the ring, and we'll be off."

Once everyone was making contact with the ring Tonks tapped it three times with her wand, speaking as she did so. "One-Two-Three, Activate" She intoned, and the world disappeared into the whirlwind.

* * *

 **Sometime Later That Evening**

Narcissa nodded her thanks to Auror Robards as he removed the DMLE seal from the doorway to Malfoy Manor, before stepping through into the entrance hall.

Coming to a stop in the middle of the entrance hall, she cast her eyes about. Try as she might she couldn't shake the feeling of taint that she found lingering over the house now that she knew just what Lucius had been doing in his spare time. It just didn't feel like home anymore.

She huffed a sigh, but further reflection was hampered by a gentle cough behind her, "I'll just go release the lockdown on the floo, Missus Malfoy. Please see to gathering everything you need and we'll send someone to bring you to the safehouse." The auror said.

That had been one of the things Narcissa had requested upon leaving Lucius to his fate at the DMLE. She wasn't so foolish as to think there wouldn't be some attempt at retribution from Lucius or his allies.

"Black," Narcissa corrected.

That brought the auror up short. "Pardon?"

She smiled wanly at the man, "My maiden name is Narcissa Black, I'll likely be returning to that name in the near future." She explained.

Auror Robards nodded understanding, "Very well, Madam Black." He conceded, before offering a small bow and leaving the room.

Where to begin? She mused. The thought of just what Lucius had been doing under their home crept back into her mind and she shivered, wondering how she'd never suspected.

"Tippy?" She called, and a moment later the elf appeared with a pop.

"Yes Mistress?" Tippy asked, standing at some semblance of attention.

She grimaced, thinking of what they were about to discuss, "Gather the other elves would you? I need to speak with you all."

Tippy nodded, before disappearing again. A few moments later the other elves started popping in, and soon all five elves were standing before her. It would have been six, had Lucius not been tricked into releasing Dobby some months ago.

She didn't waste any time bandying about with them. "Were any of you aware of what was happening in the space beneath the drawing room floor?" She asked.

One by one all the elves shook their heads, murmuring various negative statements. "How is that possible?" She demanded. "The areas were warded against even auror detection spells, the prisoners would have needed to be fed watered and their cells kept clean…"

The elves just looked confused, clearly not knowing what she was talking about. A thought occurred to her then. "Were any of you regularly required to prepare meals not intended for either myself, Draco or Lucius?" She asked.

Now that elicited a reaction, the elves now looked distinctly uncomfortable, and she had her suspicions as to why. "Can you answer me?" She asked.

They all slowly started shaking their heads and she grimaced, "Did Lucius order you not to tell me about the food?"

Again they looked distinctly uneasy, but nodded nonetheless. "Can I countermand Lucius' order?" She asked this time.

Slowly at first then more emphatically Tippy began nodding. "Yes mistress."

She sighed, and nodded to herself, "I hereby revoke Lucius' order to remain silent. Now please, tell me, did any of you prepare food and water for people other than my family on a regular basis?"

Tippy nodded, looking less uncomfortable now. "Yes, we weres instructed to prepare simple meals and place them in enchanted bowls in the kitchen." She agreed.

Narcissa eyed them all sternly now, "And where did you take these 'enchanted bowls'?" She asked.

Tippy appeared confused again, "Nowhere Mistress. We'd puts the foods in the bowls and then the foods would disappear. Same with the waters. Did we do something wrong mistress?" The elf asked, appearing worried now, wringing her hands.

Narcissa sighed, well, that explained it she supposed, she'd bet that other similar precautions were taken to ensure the cells and prisoners remained relatively clean.

"No Tippy, none of you are in trouble. I just—I don't know. I'm trying to understand how Lucius kept what was happening down there a secret from me." She explained.

The elves nodded understanding, and she paused considering her situation. Lucius would not be idle for long, even in DMLE custody he had some power left to him. She didn't have long before he'd start moving against her.

"I need you all to pack all of my clothes, jewelry and other personal belongings and bring them down here. Then, I need you to do the same for Draco's belongings. I need this done as soon as possible. You are dismissed."

The elves nodded and started popping away.

"Well, that was informative," Said auror Robards, causing her to give a start, turning to see him standing in the doorway again.

She collected herself quickly, "Apologies auror, I didn't see you there…" She admitted.

He just nodded, "I hope you don't mind, but I'll be filing a report about what you learned from them." He cautioned her.

She shrugged, "Please do, the more evidence you collect on my soon to be ex-husband's wrong doings the better."

He nodded, eyeing her curiously, before heading for the front doors, "Well, I'll be on my way now. An auror will be along shortly to escort you to the safehouse."

Reaching the door, he paused and turned to look at her with an unreadable expression, "Oh, and Madam Black? Good luck, I think you're going to need it." He said before walking out the door.

She sighed as the door clicked shut behind him. That was likely more true than even the auror realized. Even assuming Lucius didn't escape prosecution, his allies would likely seek retribution against her on his behalf.

Which meant that her plans would need to be realized that much sooner if she were to weather what was to come.

She stalked out of the room, just as the first pieces of luggage began arriving in the entrance hall courtesy of the elves.

She arrived at the floo in a few moments and tossed some powder into the flames, causing them to turn green. "Parkinson manor," she intoned before placing her head in the flames.

She found herself looking out into the Parkinson's floo chamber, an elf stepping into view, eyeing her. "Hello, might Drippy ask who bes calling in his master's floo?"

Narcissa winced slightly at the poor elf's name. She always tried to pick less demeaning names for the elves who served her. "Hello Drippy. My son, Draco, is over there visiting, can you call for him please?"

Drippy considered for a moment, before nodding, popping away only to pop back a few moments later. "Drippy has called for your sons. Hes be here soon." The elf assured her.

"Thank you Drippy," she said and waited patiently for the sound of approaching feet. Soon enough the door cracked open and Draco slipped inside.

"Mother," He acknowledged. "Is it time to come home now?"

She couldn't help the small smile at seeing her son's face. "I'm afraid I need you to return here quickly Draco, something has come up and I need to speak with you."

Admirably, he didn't ask what was wrong right then and there, where they could have been overheard. "Of course Mother. I will just make my goodbyes and will return promptly."

She sighed in relief, glad he wasn't choosing to be difficult. She knew how much he enjoyed his time with Pansy. "Please meet me in my study. I'll be waiting for you there."

He nodded before hurrying from the room, and she looked back to Drippy who was waiting patiently. "Thank you for your assistance Drippy."

The elf bowed, "It bes no problems. Drippy is being happy to help."

She withdrew from the floo and terminated the connection, watching as the flames returned to their former colour, before standing and dusting herself off and hurrying from the study.

Venturing through the entrance hall on her way to the study, she saw that her belongings were already almost entirely packed and she could see the sun was going down outside now as well. She didn't like this, packing up and stealing away in the night like a thief.

She didn't have to wait long in the now mostly barren study before Draco arrived, looking somewhat alarmed, no doubt having seen the packing elves along the way.

"Mother, has something happened? Why are you packing?" He asked.

She swallowed thickly, trying to come up with a way to explain everything to Draco. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation. "Draco, please sit, I need to tell you something…"

* * *

 **Office Of The Director Of Magical Law Enforcement**

Lucius Malfoy was going down, Amelia Bones reflected with relish. They finally had enough concrete evidence to really nail him to the wall. Not that she was in any way pleased about what had happened to the young women found in his home. However, she was pleased they had managed to catch him. She hated to think about what the ultimate fate of those girls would likely have been.

After Narcissa's scathing tirade, Lucius had, on the advice of his barrister, tried to cut a deal of his own with her. Something she'd taken great pleasure in rejecting. He'd tried everything to sway her. Promising to sell out his Death Eater cohorts, or to pledge funds to the DMLE, anything to save his worthless hide.

Lucius was now in the DMLE cells, under guard, awaiting trial. Add to that Sirius being exonerated, firing Umbridge, and the investigation into the Dursley family and it was turning out to be a good day for a change. A rare thing in her job.

She was reflecting on this, preparing to pour herself a small celebratory drink when there was a knock at the door, causing her to sigh. "Enter," she called.

The door cracked open and Kelly poked her head inside. "Madam Director, the Chief Warlock is here to see you."

Amelia stifled a groan. She'd known he'd show up eventually, and was just glad that it was after Harry and Sirius had safely left the building.

"Let him in Kelly. Then you can go. We're done for today." She decided.

Kelly stood aside and Dumbledore swept into the room.

"Ah, Amelia, I hope you can help me with something." He said, jovially.

She merely raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate, despite having a good idea just what he wished to talk about. When he didn't immediately she spoke up, "What may I help you with today Chief Warlock?"

He mock frowned at her, eyes twinkling. "Please Amelia, we've worked together long enough to dispense with titles, surely?"

She gazed at him evenly for a moment, before nodding. "Very well, Albus. My question stands though."

He nodded in satisfaction, "It is my understanding that there was an unfortunate incident at a house in Surrey last night…" He began.

"Yes, the incident involving Harry Potter and his relatives I believe. I have the report here somewhere," She agreed, cutting him off.

He frowned slightly, and she wondered if he had been hoping that she wouldn't realize who had been involved. "Yes well, it was a misunderstanding between he and his relatives which led to him fleeing the premises." He explained, leading her to wonder just who else has been blabbing confidential information. She'd have their arses, just like Dolores', if she could find the leak…

She nodded, encouraging him to go on. "It seems the poor boy has yet to turn up, and I am rather worried about him. I was wondering if you would keep an eye out for him?"

"Considering whatever happened with his relatives, what do you intend to do with him?" She asked, feigning mild disinterest as she went about cleaning her desk.

He huffed a bit, "Well, ideally I'd return him to his relatives…" He started, failing to notice the infinitesimal tightening around her eyes as he said that.

She tried not to think of the things the investigation had turned up about Harry's home life. Shacklebolt had been uncharacteristically furious when he returned to the department, throwing the Dursleys into cells about an hour before.

And Dumbledore would see Harry returned to such a place…

"However?" She probed, curious to see what the old man might reveal.

He sighed, "However, I fear things were rather fraught with them when I checked on them early this morning. As such I think we should find some alternate accommodations for the remainder of the summer. Perhaps the Leaky Cauldron, or the Three Broomsticks?" He speculated.

Amelia raised an eyebrow at him challengingly. "Really, have you forgotten about Sirius Black?" She asked.

Dumbledore frowned at that, but nodded. "Perhaps you are correct. I would in all honesty prefer to house him with the Weasley family, who he has stayed with before. However, they are currently away on vacation in Egypt."

"Hm, I see…That is a problem." She said. For you. She thought to herself.

"Ah, well, that is a bridge we shall cross when it comes time, but first we need to find dear Harry," Dumbledore opined.

She nodded, this did rather present a predicament for her. On the one hand she had no intention of allowing Dumbledore access to Harry given everything she'd learned. On the other hand she couldn't afford to openly challenge Dumbledore on his wrong doings just yet. Which prohibited her from openly denying him what he wanted. Add to that the fact that sooner rather than later she'd need to announce Sirius' innocence and Lucius Malfoy's arrest to the public, and things were bound to become complicated fast. So, what to do right now…

"Well, Albus, I can certainly tell my aurors to be on the lookout for him, if that will help. However, unless we have a lead on where he is, tracking him will be something of a trick…"

He sighed, and nodded. "Every little bit helps Amelia. If you'd please inform me should they hear anything, I'd be obliged." He said before pacing towards the door.

"Of course, you'll be the first to know," She said. Right after everyone else does, she thought to herself.

"Very well, good day Amelia." He said before breezing out the door.

She sighed as he left the room, she needed to move up some of her plans if she intended to get everything in place, in order to ensure a successful investigation. Which reminded her…

She pushed to her feet. It was time to go see Croaker.

* * *

The front door to the safehouse Amelia had arranged for Narcissa and Draco creaked open as the auror assigned to them stepped aside to usher them inside.

The interior wasn't much to look at, they had found themselves standing in something which was more entrance closet rather than entrance hall for one thing. "I know it's not much, not compared to your manor, but it's as safe a place as we can manage, and not many people know where it is…" Auror Ellen Savage said patiently.

Narcissa's mouth formed into a grim parody of a smile. "It is fine, better here than where my husband or his allies could find us." She said, trying to make the best of it. Also trying not to notice the unreadable expression on her son's face.

His reaction had been…mixed, to say the least. At first his reaction had been that of denial, disbelief and anger at what she was telling him. He hadn't wanted to believe what she was telling him.

Slowly however, as she presented more and more of the evidence she'd witnessed to him, his anger had given way to sadness, and then resignation. She had never lied to him before, and he knew it. So he wasn't inclined to believe that she'd decided to start lying to him then.

"Do you want me to show you around, or…" The auror trailed off as she began shaking her head.

"No, I'm sure we can figure out our way around the place soon enough." Narcissa said.

Savage just nodded, "Well, I'll be nearby, I'm standing first watch. If you need anything urgently send up some red sparks."

Narcissa couldn't help the confused expression which crept onto her face at that, "Would that not alert the muggles?" She asked, a reasonable concern she thought considering the house was located on the edge of a town in Norfolk.

Savage shook her head, "No, they'll just assume its a flare or maybe some fireworks."

Narcissa wasn't entirely sure what a flare was, but it apparently made sense to the auror why the muggles would think nothing of it, so she nodded understanding.

"Very well, thank you auror Savage." She said.

The auror departed, closing the door behind herself on the way out and Narcissa made her way over to her son who was eyeing the attached living room skeptically.

"Draco, how are you feeling?" His mother asked cautiously.

He stiffened for a moment before relaxing again, still he was silent for a long time before he spoke. "This will take some getting used to." He eventually said.

She nodded, agreeing thoroughly with his apparently assessment of their new, hopefully temporary residence. "It will, hopefully it won't be for long. I wish we could have found somewhere nicer to stay, but at least we're reasonably safe here."

Draco gave her an incredulous look, "Reasonably safe?" He asked.

She sighed, "Nowhere is perfectly safe Draco, nowhere. That being said the security here will undoubtedly be fairly strong, and I'll add what other spells I feel are safe to the mix."

He inclined his head in understanding, "I just…I mean, I understand what you're telling me, about what Father did, but…"

"But?" Narcissa pressed.

Again he didn't respond right away.

"I knew he was a Death Eater. Neither you nor him have ever made a secret of that to me. He always pretended it wasn't a big deal. Merlin, you did too. I thought maybe…" He shrugged helplessly, "Maybe he'd just been the backer, the power broker you know? That'd never done some of the worst things that we'd hear others were accused of."

She sighed, realizing she may have made a mistake acting in such a way. She tried to explain herself, "As much as I tried to tell myself otherwise, as much as I tried to pretend otherwise, your father being a Death Eater was always something of a warning sign."

Her son looked to her questioningly, so she elaborated. "The Dark Lord demanded absolute obedience and loyalty from his followers…" She paused here to sneer derisively, "Ha, followers. Slaves is more accurate, whether they were willing ones or not. They were branded with his mark, forced to heed his call, his word, in all things and if they disobeyed, failed him or turned away, he punished them, humiliated them.

Draco appeared startled to hear her saying such things, but she pressed on. "Those who served him - allowed him to brand them with him mark? They were selling their souls to him, whether they knew it then or not."

She shook her head. "Some may not have understood the gravity of what they were pledging themselves to, but I don't know for certain. There were always rumours about the various things he'd demand as shows of loyalty before marking them."

She sighed. "No matter, either way once in that madman's service there was no leaving. You were trapped. Serve or die. I had thought that was why Lucius remained loyal to him, to protect himself and us from retribution. Now…I do not believe that was the case."

Draco watched her stoically, "I don't know what to think anymore." He admitted, at her querying look he explained. "I mean, I always thought father could do anything, that no one could stand in the way of a Malfoy. I thought that father's power and prestige were proof that they were right about mud—muggleborns." He stammered, correcting himself at his mother's challenging look. She didn't hold with such crude language, and he knew it.

"But…you talking like that, about what it was like serving the Dark Lord and the things Father did…" He frowned, before glancing at her speculatively. "You never spoke up when Father was talking about muggleborns and purebloods. Why not?" He asked sounding a touch accusatory.

She grimaced, knowing this could well be a stumbling block for things between them. "It was because your father and I didn't precisely see eye to eye on the matter Draco. I did not wish to cause undue strife in our family by challenging him in front of you."

To say her son appeared surprised was an understatement.

She huffed a deep breath knowing she'd need to explain. "I dislike the way muggleborns and their supporters trample over tradition, I dislike the way they demand we all see things their way, and that we give them the keys to power just because they want it, but…"

"But…" Draco prodded.

She shrugs delicately, "Magical blood is magical blood as far as I am concerned. And a life is a life. They, the muggles, squibs and muggleborns, they are all just as human as you or I. I supported your father, not just because it was expected, but because our goals were similar, at least at first." She explained patiently. "We both wanted to ensure the old ways didn't die out. We both wanted to ensure our world remained secure and that people who respected our way of life remained in charge. And most of all, I supported your father because he seemed to care for you as I did."

Draco looked to her sharply, "But you don't feel that way anymore?"

She considered that, trying to decide the best way to break it to her son. "I think the Dark Lord killed as many purebloods and traditionalists as he did muggleborns and muggles. Simply because they would not support him. I think that slavery was not preferable to change. Even if I didn't like the changes coming to us." She took a deep breath, before taking the plunge. "And I don't think that a loving father would have risked his son's life by releasing a dark artefact into the school where he was living."

Draco winced at that blunt statement. "Do you think he knew about the Basilisk?" Draco asked, his voice notably rough as he tried to ignore the implicit message in that statement.

Narcissa couldn't help the surprise she felt, "You knew about the Basilisk?" She asked, shocked.

He shrugged, "Not really, no. I'd just heard the rumours that were going around at the end of the year."

She inclined her head in acknowledgement, relieved Draco hadn't in some way been involved in his father's plot. "As to your question…No, I don't think your father knew about the Basilisk in specific. At least not at first. I do, however, think that he knew what he was doing when he ensured that diary found its way into the school. He knew that it was dangerous."

Draco nodded tiredly, accepting that. He was silent for a long time before looking back up at her "So, what do we do now mother?"

She sighed, "For now we stay as safe as we can, and I'll be testifying during your father's trial."

Draco grimaced, and shook his head. "Yes, but what then? I mean we can't stay in a safehouse forever, and father's allies won't be happy with us…"

"I don't know, not for certain," she admitted. "I simply knew that we needed to be free of your father. It was too dangerous to remain."

Here she paused, considering Draco, who was waiting patiently for her to elaborate. "As…awkward as it would likely be, I could approach my sister. Perhaps she knows somebody who would help us? She, at least, doesn't worship at the altar of Albus Dumbledore…"

Draco frowned at first, no doubt remembering the less than complimentary things said by his father about Andromeda Tonks, however he slowly nodded his head. "If you think that is for the best," he allowed, "I just…"

"It's a daunting task ahead of us, isn't it?" Narcissa completed for him. "Especially when we're short on funds."

She frowned, "I can only withdraw so much at a time from Gringotts unfortunately, and…" She shrugged helplessly.

"I understand that, Mother. I just didn't realize how little father trusted you." Draco admitted.

Again Narcissa sighed, "I'm not sure how much of that was a lack of trust between us, and how much of it was his upbringing. Many pureblood families have such a policy in place."

Draco considered that, "I don't think I'd want to marry someone I didn't trust with everything…"

She could understand that she supposed, especially given what Draco was witnessing now between her and Lucius. "Our match was not really our choice Draco, our parents arranged it. Though I'd like to think that I at least made the best of it. And I got you out of the bargain, something I'd never regret." She assured him.

He smiled thankfully at her, and she held out a hand to him, drawing him into a hug. "I'm sorry, I know how much you like Pansy. It is likely the betrothal will fall through without your father though…"

Draco sighed into her shoulder. "Pansy's been great. I just wish that things were different."

She nodded, kissing him on his forehead, "I wish things were different too." She said, before releasing him from the hug.

He looked around at the dusty house they now found themselves in. "Shame we couldn't bring one of the elves with us…"

She smirked in amusement, "Yes, well, I didn't want to give your father the chance to say I was stealing from him. If it is any comfort though, Lucius won't be enjoying their services any time soon either."

He looked to her curiously, and she smiled a bit predatorily. "Aside from the fact that he's likely to be spending a good deal of time in Azkaban, I freed the elves before we left Draco."

Her son couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Father won't be happy when he finds out."

She shook her head, laughing along with him.

"No, he most certainly won't." She agreed.

* * *

 **Ministry Sub-Level**

 **Department of Mysteries**

Amelia waited patiently, observing the rotating doors as they came to a stop at the requested destination and one of them popped open.

She stepped through, following the unspeakable who had met her at the lifts when she entered the department. She had with her a rack full of memory phials which she intended to show to Croaker.

Soon they entered what she knew was referred to simply as the 'Thought' room. A room filled with book shelves, but also with a series of tanks housing Cognivores. The results of an infamously failed experiment to produce a magical computer, Cognivores were self aware and semi-ambulatory brains, which were used, in controlled circumstances, to collate data for the unspeakables.

They had to be kept in their tanks however, as they had the nasty habit of hunting down the nearest thinking organism and sucking their mind dry in the search for more data.

The unspeakable leading her, who had yet to introduce themselves, led her over to just the man she was looking for. Saul Croaker was standing observing one of the Cognivores as it did its level best to utilize its tentacles like protrusions to manipulate the lock on the door over the tank.

"Saul," she greeted, causing him to look over at her.

"Ah, Amelia. Am I to take it from your presence in the department that you got impatient waiting for me to reply?" He asked mildly.

She rolled her eyes amiably, "I wanted an answer to that message some time before the next ice age Saul. I sent you that message early this morning. You haven't even sent a missive back and it's now close to time for us to punch out for the day."

Looking surprised he checked his watch, before blinking in shock. "Oh? So it is. My apologies Amelia, it seems that time rather got away from me. We had an interesting line of thinking come up in regards to one of our projects…"

Amelia smirked in amusement at the man's antics. "I can imagine. Unfortunately what I have to talk to you about is rather urgent."

Looking her over searchingly, he nodded. "Ah, I see. Well, if you'll just follow me we can speak in my office." He suggested, before looking to the unnamed unspeakable who was still waiting patiently. "You can go."

As the other unspeakable departed, Amelia followed Croaker from the room and down a series of hallways to an office which they entered, Saul holding the door for her.

"Am I right in guessing that those phials hold memories?" Croaker asked, his eyes curious as he eyed the glowing silver mist within each of the glass tubes she'd placed on his desk.

"Yes, they pertain to a number of cases that have fallen into our laps." She informed him patiently.

Croaker nodded, sitting himself behind his desk before pulling out a pensieve from a drawer within it. "May I ask who's memories you'll be asking me to view?"

"They belong to Harry Potter," She said, eyeing him seriously.

His craggy face settled into an expression of surprise. "Indeed? Well that's different."

She sighed, knowing she'd have to explain a little, "The long and short of it is that his life has been one catastrophic mess after another. I won't bore you with the details, but I'd appreciate you watching all of these. There's a number of things I don't know what to make of in them."

He frowned, considering the phials on the desk before him, "And you're sure these memories are accurate?"

She nodded firmly, "I verified they hadn't been tampered with myself."

He hummed thoughtfully, before nodding himself. "Very well, where would you like us to begin?"

She picked up a particular phial and poured its contents into the pensieve, "Harry's first year at Hogwarts I believe."

Both of them entered the memory, exiting it a relatively short time later. "Damnit Dumbledore, just what do you think you're doing in that school of yours?" Croaker demanded, before settling when he saw the curious expression on Amelia's face. She'd never witnessed the spry old gentleman get so fired up before.

"Leaving aside, for the moment, the obvious issues with placing students in such danger, and that You-Know-Who isn't dead, which is quite enough to ruin my day on its own I assure you—I saw evidence in those memories of Dumbledore meddling with powerful artefacts he has no business having access to."

She hummed in agreement, "I assume you are referring to the stone?"

He grimaced, waggling his hand noncommittally before him, "Yes, but I was actually more concerned with that Mirror." He said, before elaborating at her surprised expression. "The effects of the stone are well known and quantified, even if most aren't capable of manufacturing such a thing."

He frowned mightily before continuing, "That mirror though. That thing is dangerous. Dumbledore wasn't joking when he told Harry that people have wasted away in front of it. We've been looking for that abomination for centuries, so we could place it in a restricted vault where nobody will mess with it, and Dumbledore has it sitting out where any student could have stumbled over it?" He asked skeptically, "That completely leaves aside the risks associated with meddling with its functions. Hiding the stone in it like that? Who knows what could have happened?"

He sighed, settling a bit once more. "I assume you'll be wanting our help with an investigation into Hogwarts?"

She nodded agreement. "I do."

He huffed, before nodding. "Now, the other issue. You-Know-Who…Voldemort. Do we have any idea how he survived? Even as whatever that was he'd become?"

Amelia grimaced, before shaking her head. "Not really, but there may be something in the other memories which will shed some more light on things for us."

He grimaced, but inclined his head in agreement. "Well, let's take a look shall we? Then I'll see about getting my people looking into that."

After drawing the previous memory back into its phial and replacing it with another one, they once more dove into Harry's memories.

Watching more carefully this time, Amelia noticed that Croaker's expression became more and more dire as they proceeded through the memories until finally he paused the memory. Specifically, he paused it at the point where Harry stabbed the diary with the Basilisk fang. He'd gone pale and cautiously approached the object which was still in its death throes where it lay on the floor of the chamber.

"Saul? Are you okay?" She asked, alarmed somewhat by his change in demeanour.

He shook his head slowly, staring at the book. "No…No, Amelia I don't think I am." He admitted. "Do you know what that diary is? Do you have access to it?"

She shook her head, "No, not yet, I had hoped that we might find out when we investigated the school."

He sighed, "Well, I think we can hold off on researching how Voldemort survived. We have our answer right here. I just pray it's the only one of its kind. Somehow I'm not hopeful in that regard."

"Why, what is it?" Amelia asked, pacing forward to look more closely at the diary bubbling with venom and ink around the fang.

"Evil most foul," Croaker murmured, before looking to her. "Tell me Amelia, your family's magics, they tended towards the necromantic once upon a time did they not? Have you perhaps heard the term Horcrux before?"

She shook her head, "No, we do keep the old family tomes around however. I could look through them if that would help?"

He grimaced, as though pained, "That won't be necessary. I can tell you everything you need to know about these vile things. I'd hoped never to see one myself, I will confess."

At her curious expression he elaborated. "A Horcrux is a device similar to a phylactery. Where a phylactery provides a means to track and monitor a being by taking a sample of their body, mind and spirit. A Horcrux does much, much worse than that."

He glared at the book on the ground. "It is a splintered fragment of a person's actual soul. A means of ensuring that one does not die when their body is destroyed."

Amelia was sure she'd just paled to the same complexion as Saul had.

He nodded sadly, "There are few things as depraved as a Horcrux Amelia. I won't go into detail, but creating one involves a very complex and vile ritual. One which involves ritualized rape, torture and cold blooded murders to shatter the Horcrux creator's soul. Another of Herpo the Foul's thrice damned creations."

She stared at the diary, doubly repulsed by it now that she'd learned just what it was. "So, this diary is how V-Voldemort avoided death?" She asked.

He nodded, "It is, and I thank the gods that this one was destroyed."

"Do you think there are more out there?" She asked, unwilling to beat about the bush.

He shook his head, less in denial as in disgust, "It wouldn't surprise me, you know how evil that bastard was."

"How many could he make?" She asked, as a reasonable follow up.

Here he paused, looking thoughtful. "No one knows the precise limit to how many times a soul can be mutilated in such a fashion." He admitted. "However, it is speculated, based on the arithmantic formulas for a Horcrux that no more than perhaps eight or nine.

"Eight or nine?" She hissed in horror.

He nodded, "Seven or eight fragments, and the original host form. Any more than that and the soul becomes too unstable. My guess, now, is that the shade we saw in young Harry's memories of first year was the remnant of the host form. What was left after his body was destroyed."

"So he's not been defeated then? When Harry destroyed the diary I mean?" She asked, trying not to sound desperate.

"Doubtful," He said, shaking his head. "Unless that shade managed to meet its end completely independently from the diary and there were no other Horcruxes."

She shuddered at the thought of more of those vile things floating around. "Is there any way to find out?"

Saul shook his head. "Not unless we find another one."

She groaned, "Well…shit." She griped.

"Yes, that about sums it up." He agreed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As ever, thank you to all my betas. Rimtuuk, Zcnk, Twilliams1797 and Temporal Knight. Also thank you to Mordreek and Emblazed for acting as ideas tasters.

As ever PLEASE review, comment and such. It really helps me. **Update:** Also thank you to Volksbrot, Q Elwyn D and Bonsly24 as of Oct.22.2019.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** So, finally, here's the next chapter of this. Sorry it took so long. Long story short, my depression and anxiety issues have been kicking my bum up and down the river. Hopefully things will improve now. Otherwise? Hope you enjoy this chapter. As ever please review, I want to know what you think.

 **Update:** Edited and Updated as of Oct.22.2019.

* * *

 **The Next Morning**

Amelia picked up her morning copy of the Daily Prophet off the countertop where her owl had deposited it. She couldn't help the grumble which escaped her upon reading the headline. Upstanding Members of Society Arrested by DMLE. Apparently Rita Skeeter had caught word of Lucius Malfoy's arrest and had decided (likely with the help of a hefty bonus) to raise six kinds of hell on his behalf.

Unfortunately she knew this would mean that she'd be busy dealing with the press today when she got into the office. She sighed tiredly at the thought of it, she hated dealing with the press. Also unfortunately, it brought up another problem she'd need to deal with.

It was extremely likely that with so many investigations happening at once that it would come out that Harry was in some way involved. After all, more than a few people in her department had seen him around. At one point or another. It was sheer luck that Dumbledore had not been aware of Harry's presence when the old codger had paid her a visit the previous day. Add to that the fact she'd need to announce Sirius' innocence as soon as possible and…Well, put simply, it would likely behoove her to warn Harry and Sirius about the coming media firestorm.

She was drawn from her reflections by the sound of scuffing feet, and looked up to see Susan shuffling into the kitchen while stifling a yawn. Amelia watched with amusement as her niece thump down gracelessly into her chair across from her. "Well, good morning to you too!" Amelia said cheerfully, earning an accusatory look from the young woman, before she started pulling the necessary components for a bowl of cereal towards herself.

Susan was like a daughter to her; understandable really considering she'd raised the girl since her parents had been killed in the last war. As much as Amelia missed her brother and his wife, she couldn't help how happy she felt whenever she spent time with Susan. And she couldn't help just how angry it made her to find out just how Dumbledore had allowed Susan to be endangered over the last couple years.

Yes, she was furious with Dumbledore, and even angrier with Malfoy, but she couldn't help but wonder one thing… "Susan, I have a question for you." Amelia began, causing her niece to look up from her cereal. "Why haven't you told me about what's been happening at Hogwarts?"

Susan looked confused, "What do you mean? I've told you about Hogwarts…"

Amelia raised a brow at her, "A troll in the school, a Cerberus, a possessed teacher? Any of that ring any bells? And that was just in your first year."

The girl flushed, "I'd heard about the Cerberus, though I'd never seen it myself. As for the troll, I asked Professor Sprout about it, she told me that Headmaster Dumbledore would see to informing the DMLE." She paused, and looked uncertain, "I'd never heard anything about a possessed teacher though…"

Amelia frowned, "I can understand you didn't know about that last one, and it sounds like you assumed I already knew about the troll, but why didn't you mention the Cerberus to me?"

Susan, looked confused again, "I don't know. It didn't seem that important…" She frowned, looking worried.

"No, I didn't know about the Troll, Susan. The teachers didn't alert the authorities." Amelia explained. Susan blinked in surprise.

"Oh, well…I suppose it's true that it was already handled—" Susan speculated.

Amelia shook her head, "The teachers weren't the ones to handle the Troll Susan, but I'll leave that aside for the moment." And Amelia silently resolved to have Susan checked over for compulsion charms and the like when she got some spare time. It wasn't like her studious niece to not mention something like that to her.

"Now, what about second year?" She asked.

"I assume you mean the petrified students? It was in the newspaper wasn't it? I thought you'd be aware of it…I did ask Professor Sprout about that too, she said the Headmaster would inform the DMLE." She paused, then winced. "They didn't report that either did they?"

Amelia shook her head. "No, they did not," she agreed, before sighing. "It's being handled now. I do however have one additional issue we need to discuss."

Susan nodded cautiously, no doubt wondering what other confringos her aunt was about to drop on her. "You and your friends' treatment of Harry Potter." Amelia noted the way Susan winced guiltily and pressed on. "I trust I don't need to tell you why I am displeased to hear how you all treated him over the whole 'Heir of Slytherin' thing?"

Susan shook her head, looking down in shame.

Amelia eyed her shrewdly for a time before nodding resolutely. "What's done is done, and cannot be undone. I will however tell you that I expect better from you in the future. If I hear about similar behaviour, I will not be so lenient."

Her niece nodded, looking a touch relieved, and Amelia's eyes drifting back to her newspaper. "I'll likely be a bit late getting home tonight. I trust you can fend for yourself for a bit longer than usual?"

With that things turned to generalities, which occupied the two of them until it was time for Amelia to head out. It was only as she headed for the door, so to speak, that a thought occurred to her. Perhaps she could stop by Andromeda's house on the way to work?

* * *

Harry made his way, cautiously, into the kitchen. He had been awoken by the tantalizing smell of cooking bacon and had come to investigate, only to find Andromeda busily working at the stove.

He gulped nervously, before screwing up his courage, "Um—" She looked up at the sound of his voice. "Do you need any help with that? I could do it if you want?" He suggested.

Andromeda merely smiled and shook her head. "No Harry, it's fine, I have it under control." She assured him.

Harry shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but nodded slowly, "I-if you're certain. I don't mind you know, it's one of the few chores I didn't mind doing for my relatives." He explained.

She frowned and for a moment he feared he'd overstepped a boundary, only for her to shake her head, "That's kind of you to offer Harry, but there's no need. I enjoy cooking too." He nodded cautiously, sidling a little further into the room. "Now, how many pieces of bacon would you like? I've got plenty."

"As many as you feel like giving me, I don't want to put you out…" Harry said promptly.

This time she sighed, "You're not going to put me out Harry. As I said we have plenty. How about three, does that sound good?" Harry nodded agreement. "Good, do you want any scrambled eggs? Perhaps some hash browns?"

"Yes, please." He said.

There was a small racket behind him and he turned to see Sirius standing, swaying slightly, in the doorway, looking somewhat disheveled and dazed. "Did someone say bacon?" He asked.

Andromeda smirked in amusement, "Yes Sirius, I did. How many pieces do you want? Three sound good for you too?"

He nodded eagerly. "Y-yes, please. It's been ages since I've had any."

She nodded, "How did you two sleep?"

"Pretty well," Harry said getting a bit more comfortable with her.

"Like a baby," Sirius said promptly after him, "It was really nice sleeping on a proper bed for once."

Andromeda could understand that. She eyed her cooking speculatively. "We're almost done here. Sirius, would you mind going and waking up my heathen daughter and my husband? Gently please? I'd rather neither of them die of a heart attack." She said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Sirius nodded, turning to leave the room. "Yeah, sure."

"How about you grab a seat Harry," Andromeda suggested.

Harry obeyed, looking about the kitchen as he did so. It was definitely clean, and it had a distinctly warmer feeling to it than the one at Privet Drive. He wondered just what it was in particular that made it seem so. Part of him wondered if it were just the nature of the people living here.

Ted arrived a minute later, looking groggy. Their introduction had gone well the previous evening. Ted worked as a barrister for a Wizarding firm out of Diagon Alley and seemed to be a friendly and affable sort. He had a pleasant, honest cast to his face that Harry liked and was rather distinctly unused to dealing with during the summer months.

Andromeda placed a cup of coffee in front of her husband before dropping a plate in front of Harry. "You can start eating whenever you want Harry, we don't generally stand on ceremony for breakfast." She assured him, earning a nod from him as he began tucking in only to stop when a shriek echoed down from somewhere above them, causing Andromeda to sigh. "I thought I told him to be gentle about it…"

There was the sound of thundering feet on the stairs and Sirius bolted past the door a pink spell chasing him, a yelp followed a moment later and Tonks stumbled into the doorway. She was, it had to be said, thoroughly soaked through. Harry couldn't help the slight blush which adorned his features when he noticed the way her now damp nightclothes clung to her.

"Did you tell him to do that?" Dora demanded, looking to her mother.

"No, I didn't. What did he do exactly?" Andromeda asked, sounding exasperated.

"He dumped a bucket of ice water on me!" Her daughter said, glaring accusingly at the man who just now was peeking through the other doorway into the kitchen.

"Sirius!" Andromeda called loudly, causing the man to flinch.

"What?" He whined, "She wouldn't get up when I tried the first couple times."

Andromeda just shook her head. "Come and get breakfast you two. On second thought, Dora, come here for a moment."

Her daughter obeyed, shooting Sirius a filthy look. Her mother cast a drying spell over her before nodding in satisfaction, "There, now go take a seat."

They ate in silence for a time, and Harry noted with amusement that Dora kept shooting Sirius reproachful looks. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Ted shrugged, "Nothing much today dear, might stop by the office to drop off some things for tomorrow, otherwise I'm all clear."

She looked to her daughter next, who also shrugged, "Day off technically, but I'm to watch over these two jokers."

"What'd I do?" Harry asked, aggrieved.

Dora blinked, then shook her head ruefully. "Sorry Harry, wasn't thinking. I don't mind watching you two. No matter what this bone head does…" She said, jerking her head at Sirius, who merely smiled insolently at her.

Any reply to that was cut off by a knock at the front door, causing Andromeda's eyebrows to rise in surprise as she got to her feet. "I wonder who that could be at this hour?"

She walked from the room, and a moment later they could hear her opening the front door, followed by the murmur of voices. Then, the sound of the door closing and she reentered the room with a guest in tow, a certain Director of Magical Law Enforcement.

Harry got to his feet, but Madam Bones waved him back down. "It's okay, no need to get up Harry. Just wanted to say good morning and discuss something with you two." She said nodding to Sirius as well.

"Would you like something to eat Amelia? We have some extra today…" Andromeda offered.

A polite shake of the head, "No thank you, I've already eaten." She looked to Sirius again. "You'll be pleased to hear the Minister has spoken with the muggles. They've called off the manhunt for you."

Sirius nodded, looking relieved. "Well, that's a start, think I'll hold off a few days before wandering out there though. Just in case someone didn't get the message."

Amelia nodded thoughtfully, "Which brings me to my second piece of news. The paperwork is already in to see you cleared of all charges and formally exonerated. That said, we'll still have to formally announce it via the press that you've been cleared."

Sirius grumbled incoherently for a moment, "Shame that. It'd have been nice to skip the whole being in the news thing…"

She smiles slightly, clearly agreeing with the sentiment. "We'll also be informing them of Lucius Malfoy's arrest. We don't intend to inform them of Harry's involvement in that, but as I've learned recently, my department appears to have a few leaks." This produced a morose groan from Harry.

"Shame we can't just skip town for a bit eh pup?" Sirius commiserated.

Harry looked a bit thoughtful at that, "Well…why couldn't we? I mean it wouldn't have to be forever right?" He speculated, looking hopefully to Sirius, who couldn't hide his surprise.

"Uh-well, that is to say…I just sorta assumed you wouldn't want to kiddo. I mean, you've had a rough few days after all." He stammered out, before looking to Amelia. "Would that even be allowed?"

Amelia chewed her lip thoughtfully. "That should be allowed, yes. We have everything from you two that we require for the investigations for the time being. It's likely that Hogwarts will be somewhat delayed this year, and you're certainly not under house arrest." She mused, before her eyes refocused on them. "That said, where would you go?"

Sirius and Harry both looked pensive at that. "Well, we could always go visit some of the old family properties. I mean I know the Blacks have a few nice vacation homes around the world. I inherited one from my Uncle Alphard. I believe the Potters have some too…"

Harry gave a start at that, "They—I mean, we, do?"

A perplexed look was his reply, "Of course, your family was reasonably well off the last I checked, how come—"

Harry just shrugged, "I've only ever visited Gringotts the once Sirius, I didn't have a chance to talk to them about much…" He trailed off at the odd looks the adults were giving him.

"Harry, I feel like I should ask," Amelia started. "Have you ever received a bank statement?"

Now it was his turn to give her an odd look. "No, should I have?"

She nodded seriously, "Yes, you really should have, which begs the question of why you have not. Something to look into I think."

Sirius nodded stoically, "While that is…concerning, we're getting a little off point I think," he said after a moment.

"You were suggesting getting out of town while the media fervour dies down, yes?" Reminded Ted from his side of the table.

Another nod from Sirius, "Yes, I have no love for the media myself, and I'm sure Harry would appreciate not being in the limelight." Harry was already nodding emphatically.

Andromeda chewed her lip thoughtfully, "My only concern with that idea is that neither of you are in great shape, medically speaking. However, I can't say either of you are too ill to travel…" She mused, "Perhaps if I sent some potions along with you? When were you hoping to leave?"

Here her cousin looked to Amelia again, "When were you intending to inform the press?"

She shrugged easily, "In about an hour ideally, though I'd be willing to push it back to this evening so you could get ready, if that's what you really want to do." She then looked to Dora. "Tonks?"

Unfortunately this caused all three members of the family to look up and she shook her head, "Auror Tonks," she corrected. "If they do end up leaving the country, you're to go with them. I'll see to the paperwork."

Dora blinked, then smiled brightly. "Go with these two to various vacation hotspots around the world? Sign me up boss!" She said earning a chuckle from everyone else.

Andromeda looked thoughtful after a moment, "If you're wanting to visit the Potter properties too, you'll need to go to Gringotts and get information about them. You could also use the opportunity to find out why you haven't been receiving your bank statements."

Here she paused to look to her cousin, "I'm not so sure having you go along would be a good idea. You've not been officially announced as being innocent yet. Last thing we need is you getting lynched by an angry mob."

Sirius waved that off, "I can get by with a glamour or something in the meantime. Though I have to ask, do you, the DMLE I mean, have my wand Amy?" He asked looking to the director again.

She gave a start. "Yes actually, I can have it to you shortly."

"I could see to you Sirius," Dora suggested, wiggling her own wand in front of her by way of explanation.

Andromeda looked hesitant, but eventually nodded. "That could work." She sighed, then nodded, "Well, once you two are done eating you should see about getting cleaned up and then you can go, the sooner the better."

Amelia cleared her throat. "If I might make a suggestion?" They looked to her expectantly, "Perhaps it would be best if you disguised Harry. I had an…interesting discussion with Dumbledore and I think it'd be best if you steered clear of his notice for now."

Dora nodded, looking speculatively at Harry, "I can handle that too. Shame your complexion lends itself to your current hair and eye colour, Harry. We could dye your hair or use a glamour of course, will have to do that for your scar anyways…" She paused sighing, smiling ruefully, "This is so much easier for me, I can change on a whim. You can't." She noted, changing her hair to match his own for a moment to emphasize her point.

Harry smiled shyly. "I'm not sure dying my hair would work, it tends to change back to this whenever Aunt Petunia would try and cut it."

Silence met this declaration, and he became a touch uncomfortable as they all stared at him. "Your hair changes back after your aunt cuts your hair?" Dora asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, it used to drive her nuts, eventually she gave up though."

Tonks glanced at her parents who were still wide eyed, before looking back to Harry and leaning forward a bit. "Harry, could you do me a favour?" He nodded tentatively. "Close your eyes for a moment." He did so, and he heard her take a steadying breath, "Now, I need you to picture yourself, your appearance in your head. Focus on it for a minute."

His brow furrowed in confusion but he nodded his head, doing as instructed. "Alright…"

"Now, imagine yourself with blond hair if you can." Dora said, he did so and held that image in his mind. Ridiculous though it appeared to him. "Got that image in your head?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Okay, you remember how when you were first learning they taught you how to reliably guide your magic through your wand to use it?" She asked and he nodded again. "Well, while you've got that image of blond hair in your head, touch your magic."

He nodded and after a moment he felt his scalp prickle. "Now, open your eyes."

He did so and looked questioningly to her, "Alright, what was all that about?"

Dora just chuckled and conjured a mirror before handing it to him. He stared at his reflection, his very blond reflection, before glancing up at her questioningly. "Congratulations Harry," She said with a bright smile, "It appears you're the second Metamorphmagus in Great Britain."

He couldn't help but gape at her. "That was a relatively simple one of course. Hair's really that easy, because we're all so used to the idea of our hair being subject to change. But if you want I can show you a few other tricks some time. For now though, why don't we stick with changing your hair colour to something more appropriate and hiding that scar of yours with a glamour. That should be enough to hide you when we go to Diagon."

Amelia shook her head in amusement, "Well, that's certainly a pleasant surprise. Now, as much as I hate to leave you in the lurch, I really should be getting in to work. I'll put off the press conference as long as I can. Andromeda, Ted, thanks for your hospitality."

Andromeda pushed to her feet before leading the other woman out of the room.

Harry was busily focusing on changing his hair to another colour, and before long it was shifting rapidly between black and green before settling on brown.

Dora whistled appreciatively. "Already got it down. Good job kiddo. Now, why don't you do what mum says and go get cleaned up. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

Harry nodded and got to his feet, but stopped when he reached the door, looking back at Sirius. "Um…Mister Black…Sirius?" He said tentatively, getting the other man's attention. "I was wondering, do you think I could tell my friends about you?"

Blinking in surprise Sirius nodded, "Sure, I have no problem with that. You can tell them all about everything that's happened as far as I'm concerned."

Harry smiled, "Thanks, might be a while before Ron gets his but Hermione will be interested I'm sure," he said before wandering from the room.

He made his way up to the room he'd woken up in as he heard Andromeda returning to the kitchen. He set about gathering the things he'd need from his trunk before pausing to write his letters to his friends. First telling them about Sirius, then about his discovery with Tonks and how he'd be disguising himself to go to Diagon Alley in the next few hours. He was sure Hermione would get a kick out of it.

"Why don't you drop off the one for Hermione first Hedwig? The other one for the Weasleys at their home, no sense having you fly all the way to Egypt eh?" He murmured to his owl, who bobbled her head agreeably before taking his letters and flying out the window.

"Now, about that shower…"

* * *

The first sign that Dan and Emma Granger received that their daughter had just gotten some mail was an excited exclamation echoing down the stairs from their daughter's room.

That this little explosion of sound was clearly coming from their normally restrained daughter caused some raised eyebrows. "What do you reckon, another letter from that friend of hers?" Suggested Dan to his wife, folding away his newspaper.

She shrugged, a small smile quirking her lips, "We'll soon find out, but I'd bet on it."

Sure enough, there's the sound of running feet and their daughter, Hermione, hurtled into the room. "Mum, Dad, sorry about that—excellent news—do you think we could go to Diagon Alley today?"

Again the arched eyebrows and amused smirks. "Oh, did your book list arrive?" Emma asked innocently, "That seems a bit early…"

Hermione shook her head, oblivious to her mother's teasing. "No, Harry might be there for a while though. Maybe I could see him? — Not that I wouldn't mind shopping for some books or a familiar—I mean…" She cut herself off, flushing as she realized she was babbling.

"This excited over seeing a boy, should we be worried dear?" Dan asked, his tone only half joking.

Hermione blushed crimson, then frowned. "He's just my friend Dad. Can you please be serious?"

"Just friends?" Dan said innocently, before raising his hands in surrender when his daughter scowled. "Sorry, sorry, you're right I shouldn't tease." He paused here looking to his wife. "What do you think dear? Feel like a trip to the alley?"

Emma paused considering. The source of her hesitation was no secret among them, she'd been terrified the previous year when a brawl had broken out between Misters Weasley and Malfoy.

"Well—Alright then, I suppose we could do that, yes." Emma allowed. "Take the tube, or drive?" She asked, causing Dan to snort in amusement.

"Are you kidding, you know what parking is like down there," he said incredulously, earning a nod of acceptance from his wife.

"Alright, I assume you want to go sooner rather than later?" Hermione's mother asked of her daughter, getting energetic nodding in return. It was understandable really, Hermione got so lonely over the summer, her only real friends were ones she saw that school of theirs.

"Okay, go get ready and we'll go," she encouraged.

Hermione beamed, before spinning on her heel and hurrying from the room.

Dan snorted derisively once he was sure his daughter was out of hearing, "Just friends eh? If that's true, I'll eat my hat. You don't get that excited over 'just a friend'." He griped, before wincing at his wife's chiding look.

"She's lonely during the summers Dan, you know how she gets when it comes time for Hogwarts again, she spends most of her summers studying to keep herself occupied," she admonished, before rolling her eyes at his skeptical look. "Alright, so maybe she does like the lad, but I'm warning you right now Dan Granger, you'll be leaving her be about it!"

At his mulish look she continued. "I'm serious Dan, you know how she struggles with socializing in general, the last thing she needs is you interfering. Personally I think it's a good thing she has such a good friend."

He raised both hands in surrender, tucking away the newspaper. "Alright, I'll behave, I promise," he conceded grudgingly.

She nodded firmly in satisfaction. "Good. Now, why don't we go get ready?"

* * *

It was close to an hour later before Harry walked into Gringotts, it had taken longer than anticipated for everyone to get ready to go.

Sirius, it had to be said, was nigh unrecognizable. He looked, to all appearances, to be a short balding man of slavic descent judging by his disguise. Tonks had really outdone herself with that glamour.

"You okay pup, know what to do?" Sirius asked.

Harry shrugged, "Sorta? I just walk up to one of the tellers right? Ask to speak with someone about my family's assets and what not?"

Sirius chuckled at that rather blunt way of phrasing it, "Spot on lad. I'll just let you lead the way. We'll handle my stuff afterwards."

Harry nodded seriously, visibly steeling himself before walking up to one of the tellers, it wasn't a goblin he recognized off the top of his head.

The goblin in question looked up as he approached, and arched an eyebrow at him. "Um—Hello, er, sir." Harry said, causing the other eyebrow to join the first. Likely a response to his courteous greeting.

"Hello to you as well. How might Gringotts help you today?" The goblin asked.

"I uh—I was just wondering, could I speak with my accounts manager?" He managed to stammer out, something about goblins unnerved him. It was all he could do to remember the words Sirius had tutored him in before they'd left the Tonks' house.

The goblin nodded stoically, "Name?"

Again an arched eyebrow as the goblin surveyed him, before pushing a device across the counter towards him when he told him who he was. "We'll need to confirm your identity before proceeding further. Please prick your finger on the spindle in the centre."

Harry reluctantly complied, only to be relieved when he didn't feel the cut and Sirius healed the wound quickly after he was finished.

The goblin observed the strange devices workings for a moment before nodding acceptance. "Very well, I will see if your account manager is available. And you, do you require anything?" He asked turning his attention to Sirius.

"I may wish to discuss some things with my own account manager once we are done." Sirius allowed. The goblin nodded, eyeing them both closely before focusing once more on Harry.

"Are you aware, Mister Potter, that this one with you is under a glamour spell?" He asked.

Harry had to admit to surprise at learning that the goblin could tell that just by looking at Sirius. He nodded quickly however, "Yes sir, I am."

The goblin nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer, before hopping down of his seat. "Very well, he will likely be required to remove his glamour when meeting with his manager, but that is between them…please wait here." He instructed before walking back into the offices behind the counter.

It was only a couple minutes later that he returned. "Account Manager Crackjaw will see you now. Just follow the guard waiting at the public entrance to the offices."

Harry nodded, "Thank you, have a good day," he said, before leading the way over to the indicated doorway where an armoured goblin guard was waiting.

The guard eyed them suspiciously from behind the slitted face mask of his helmet. "This way, stick close," he instructed before turning and staring off. Perhaps it was the way the armour affected his gait, but the goblin had an odd, almost loping stride that was difficult to adequately describe. Nevertheless the pair of wizards and the witch with them fell into step behind him.

Eventually they came to a door where the guard stopped and turned to regard them. "Inside. Crackjaw will see you now."

One after the other they all entered the room, Tonks closing the door behind them. It was then that Harry's eyes fell on the goblin waiting behind the desk. Crackjaw, it seemed, was a somewhat elderly goblin, in as far as he could tell based largely on the colour of the goblin's hair, with a stern face with a notable scar along the right side of his jaw.

The goblin looked up from his parchment work, dark eyes flashing as he took in his three guests. "Ah…Mister Potter, at long last we meet." He growled, his voice gravelly.

Harry bowed slightly at the waist as he'd seen the occasional wizard do in the bank when greeting a goblin. "Hello, Mister Crackjaw."

The goblin surveyed him stoically, before slowly nodding acceptance. "I presume you are here to find out some details on your family's finances? I admit I was surprised when I heard you'd visited the bank two years ago, but did not come to see me. You do not appear as I was led to expect you to…"

Harry blinked uncertainly, before responding. "I-uh, I wasn't informed that I should. Honestly I didn't even know I had an accounts manager until recently. As for my appearance, I changed a few things so that I wouldn't stick out here in the alley."

The goblin appeared unfazed by that explanation. "Ah, I see. And the first matter is not something any of those on the front desks would see as necessary to question you on." He shuffled some of the pages on his desk. "Now, what was it you wished to discuss?"

Harry glanced warily at Sirius before looking back to the goblin. "Um, I suppose I should start by saying I haven't been receiving my bank statements."

The reaction from the goblin was rather startling considering how stoic he'd appeared thus far. Rearing back in alarm as both eyebrows threatened to climb into his hairline. "You haven't been receiving your statements?" He asked, seeking confirmation.

Harry shook his head silently and the goblin collected himself, before sighing in aggravation, making a note on one of the pages in front of him. "I'll be sure to have someone look into that." Crackjaw promised. "Do you want to know what is currently in your accounts?"

"Yes, please." Harry said politely.

The goblin clicked his fingers at a pair of file cabinets off to the side of his desk and Harry watched a ledger float out of one of them and over into the goblin's waiting hand. Harry, quite sensibly, didn't comment on the similarity between that and the examples of house elf magic he'd witnessed before. Something told him the goblin wouldn't find the comparison flattering.

Laying the ledger out on the desk, Crackjaw rapidly flicked through a number of pages, before pausing on a large table of some sort and drawing a finger down to the final line. "You currently have around 10,000 Galleons in your trust account. Your father's old account, which you do not currently have access to contains around 150,000 galleons which in case you were curious works out to around 750,000 pound sterling." He reported before flipping pages again. "Your mother's old account contains only about 53,000 galleons by comparison, though we do not monitor it like we do the big investor accounts… In yearly investments you currently bring in around 6,000 galleons annually. also, your family continues to make a small sum of royalties off the sale of Sleekeazy's shampoo. Which was invented by your great grandfather Fleamont Potter*.

Harry blinked in surprise at those figures before glancing warily between Sirius and the goblin account manager. "Does that mean I'm well off or anything?" It certainly sounded like he was comfortable enough but…

Sirius nodded. "You're certainly not the richest wizard around Harry, but you are definitely comfortably well off. You could subsist for years without needing to work on that amount of money.

Harry nodded, somewhat encouraged by that news. "What about properties?" He asked next. Crackjaw flipped through several more pages. "You have two properties in Great Britain. The first is Potter Manor, which currently lies dormant on the Isle of Wight. The second property is that in Godric's Hollow. You'll be interested to learn that the Ministry, quite without permission, have setup a monument on the property."

Harry swallowed thickly, thinking of the home where his parents had died. "Anywhere else?" He managed to rasp before collecting himself.

The goblin seemed to sense his discomfort, but didn't comment on it. "Your family had a total of three additional properties. A small beach chalet in France, a property which was mostly used for hunting and such in Canada, and a property on one of the Sandwich Islands."

Harry blinked in surprise. That was certainly more than he'd been expecting!

"Can you tell me a little more about them?" He requested, "If that's okay that is…"

The goblin shrugged unconcernedly. "You are paying for my time, so it is no bother on my part mister Potter. And the fee is unlikely to make so much as a noticeable dent in your finances, so I very much doubt it will bother you either."

Harry took that to mean it was not a problem.

"The beach chalet is near La Rochelle," The goblin continued unperturbed. "As for the others, the Canadian property is a large magically concealed lot outside Canmore Alberta. The final property, is just outside Laie, on the island of Oahu. I can provide you with the addresses for all three."

Harry nodded his thanks, "If you would, that'd be appreciated."

Crackjaw quickly jotted down a list of addresses on a sheet of parchment and passed it across to him. Harry looked over the list before nodding, something about the Canadian property was tickling his brain, but he couldn't quite figure out why that was. He looked to Sirius, "I think that's everything for me. Your turn?"

Sirius nodded and stepped forward.

Crackjaw looked interestedly towards the older wizard. "I do not believe we are acquainted. Though that could be a mistaken belief considering your glamour mister…" He said, trailing off leadingly, giving Sirius a chance to introduce himself.

"Before I introduce myself," Sirius began, "Might I ask after the confidentiality of this meeting?"

The goblin appeared justifiably intrigued by the question. "As always, everything in this meeting will be kept in the strictest confidence between the customer and the bank." He assured him.

Sirius considered that, before nodding. "Sirius Black."

The goblin's eyes widened slightly and he glanced at Harry, "Curious, it was my understanding you were accused of betraying the Potters. Yet young Harry here seems unperturbed…Were it not for the fact the blood verification he underwent earlier would have revealed magical influences, I'd assume he were compelled."

Sirius grimaced, before he schooled himself. "Recent evidence has come to light clearing me of that which I was accused of." The goblin seemed surprised, but allowed him to continue. "It will be made public either today or tomorrow I imagine. However I have some business I'd like to see to before that happens."

The goblin nodded slowly. "I believe that your account managers are Halfaxe and Sturnhelm?"

Sirius cocked his head curiously at that, "Halfaxe is my account manager, yes, but Sturnhelm was the Black family's," He stated.

Crackjaw raised an eyebrow at him. "Interesting, so far as I know you still maintain rights to your family's vaults. It has caused Sturnhelm a degree of consternation considering your former incarceration."

Sirius blinked at that, "That shouldn't be possible. I was cast from the Black family."

The goblin spread his hands before him, "And yet…"

Harry saw the troubled look on his godfather's face. "I would like to see them, however I'd appreciate causing as little…disturbance, as possible with my presence."

Crackjaw chuckled, humourlessly. "It would not be the first time such has been true in this bank Mister Black. I shall send for them." He said before scribbling out a pair of notes, placing them in messenger tubes which whisked them away with a pneumatic 'schump' sound.

"They should be with us shortly, might I offer some refreshment in the interim?" Crackjaw asked.

Harry shook his head. "No thank you." Sirius and Tonks both voiced polite refusals.

And so they waited, and sure enough, five minutes later two goblins entered. They eyed the trio of humans warily as they closed the door behind themselves.

"Sir, if you would remove your glamour?" Crackjaw requested.

Sirius looked to Tonks and nodded, causing her to raise her wand and give it a flick. Following which the glamour began to fade, soon leaving Sirius, as he normally appeared, standing before the goblins.

Sturnhelm barely reacted at all, simply turning to look at Crackjaw questioningly. "I assume there's a reason we're not reacting adversely to the presence of an escaped felon?"

"Well, you see, that's a bit of a story…" Sirius began only be cut off by the sound of an inelegant snort from Crackjaw.

"He's been cleared of wrongdoing, it should be confirmed by the Prophet either today or tomorrow." The goblins supplied bluntly.

"Or…we could just put it like that," Sirius said, sounding a bit put out. Harry had to stifle a small snort of amusement at his godfather's expense.

Sturnhelm seemed largely unmoved by the exchange, "Very well, how can we be of assistance today Mister Black?"

Sirius collected himself, before nodding firmly, "I was wondering if you could explain something to me before we get to that." The goblin merely waited patiently for him to elaborate. "It was my understanding that I'd lose access to my family's wealth when I was cast from the family. How is it that this is not the case?"

Sturnhelm nodded, humming in understanding. "Simply put? Your father was less than sold on the idea of casting you out. Concerns about the possibility of something happening to your brother as I recall…"He shrugged dismissively. "As such he could not support your mother when she sought to do so. Arcturus, your grandfather, did not agree with the idea in the first place, and without your father's support he had a reason to refuse your mother. As such, you are, in actuality, the current head of house Black."

Sirius blinked numbly, "My grandfather refused to disown me?"

"Indeed," murmured the goblin.

Harry's godfather sat staring, unseeing, into the middle distance for a time before he shook that off. "I-I see. I knew I had inherited Grimmauld for some reason, I felt control of the wards shift to me while I was in Azkaban…I should have suspected something like this." He said a touch faintly.

He sighed, running a hand back through his hair, "Might I then ask you both for bank statements for my various accounts and a summary of the various properties I own or control?"

Both of the newcomers nodded, in eerie synchronicity. "Of course Mister Black. We will gather those for you at once." Halfaxe stated, speaking up for the first time.

It was only a couple minutes later bother returned with a set of ledgers. They spent the next few minutes going over the extent of the Black wealth and Harry soon came to realize that while his own family was more than comfortable, Sirius' was 'filthy rich'.

His godfather had access to properties on almost every continent and in most major countries, the sheer volume of his monetary wealth was a bit staggering. Eventually however, they came to Sirius' last request. "I would like to contract Gringotts' curse-breakers to clean and clear Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Would such a thing be possible at this time?"

The goblins glanced at each other briefly before Halfaxe nodded, "That should be possible Mister Black, however I was informed recently that our curse-breakers are currently handling a large volume of contracts, as such there may be a delay before we can get to you…"

Sirius waved that off, "So long as I don't have to handle it personally in the near future I'll be happy. We intend to explore my various other properties around the world in the meantime."

The goblin nodded, "Ah, then it should be no problem at all Mister Black. Is there anything else?"

Sirius shook his head, then looked to Harry, who also indicated in the negative.

"Then we shall get everything moving on our end," Declared Sturnhelm. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you."

* * *

 ***** I am aware that according to current canon Fleamont was Harry's Grandfather, not great-Grandfather. I've chosen to adjust this as I wanted Charlus and Dorea to instead have been his grandparents.

 **Author's Note:** I hope you all have a good Christmas. Or, if you don't follow that particular tradition, I wish you a happy holiday season.

 **Update:** Thanks to ALL my betas. There's been a ton of you guys, and I appreciate all the hard work!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Finally got around to finishing this chapter. Took longer than I'd hoped, but here it is at long last. Hope you guys (and girls) enjoy it.

 **Update:** Edited and Updated as of Oct.22.2019.

* * *

Amelia sighed as she worked to straighten herself out in front of the mirror she'd conjured for herself in her office. She had donned the robes she usually reserved for use during wizengamot sessions or trials she was required to oversee, a necessary concession whenever she had to appear before the media.

She'd spent the last hour or so attempting to put them off until later that day to little avail. While strictly speaking no one could force her to speak with them, they could, and likely would, badger her and her subordinates until she was forced to cave just to get on with their work day.

She secured her monocle to her lapel, before running over the matters she intended to cover in the press conference in her head.

The dismissal of Dolores Umbridge would no doubt come up. As would the arrest of Lucius Malfoy. She suspected however that it would need to be her, who brought up the exoneration of Sirius Black and the associated investigations.

She winced a little as she recalled the reports coming in to her about the muggle women that had been recovered from the Malfoy dungeon. The trauma they had endured was severe enough that the healers at Saint Mungo's were balking at the notion of obliviating them. It had been explained in the report that obliviation merely removed the memories, not the other lingering effects of abuse, such as depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress. In fact obliviating them could actually worsen their conditions as they tried to go about their daily lives as though nothing had happened. Manufacturing false memories to explain the trauma, likewise, would likely do more harm than good. These details would NOT be coming out in the upcoming press release. It was bad enough that some of it would likely come out in the trial…

All the thought of mental manipulations brought her thoughts back around to her niece and her own concerns that Susan might have been confunded or compulsed in some way. She grimaced at that thought. The more she thought about it the more certain she was that something had been done to Susan to encourage her to remain silent, and that infuriated her.

She felt that she really should have taken her niece in immediately to look into it, but she'd been so preoccupied by her other responsibilities that she'd put it off.

There was a knock at the door, causing her to look up. "Yes, come in." She called, surreptitiously palming her wand just in case. All these thoughts of someone manipulating her niece had her feeling paranoid.

Kelly poked her head inside the doorway. "Madam Director, they're ready for you."

She sighed, and nodded. "Very well, I'll be right there."

A couple minutes later she exited her office and stalked down the hall to the press briefing room, pausing briefly at the door to draw in a cleansing breath before pushing open the door open and striding in.

Almost immediately she was partially blinded by the light of magical flash bulbs going off. She ignored them and the questions being hurled at her until she reached the podium, where she waited patiently for the questions to die down before nodding her head.

"Very good, we can begin now." She said, pointedly overlooking the impatient looks from many of the press gathered before her.

"As you are all here demanding answers I suppose we'll cut right to the chase shall we?" She suggested rhetorically. "Lucius Malfoy has indeed been arrested by the DMLE and is being held pending trial. This comes in response to this department receiving a great deal of evidence implicating him in not only the attempted use of an unforgivable curse on a minor, but in the release of a dangerous artefact and associated beast into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The looks of surprise on most of the faces before her was not unexpected, though some seemed more surprised than others. Rita Skeeter she noticed, didn't even bat a lash. She pressed on regardless.

"Following his arrest, his house was searched in accordance with a warrant and more evidence was found further implicating him in numerous criminal activities." She reported stoically, trying not to think of those poor women they'd found in the dungeon. "Now, any questions related to this matter?"

Rita practically tackled another reporter out of the way to get up front. "Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet. We've heard disturbing reports that Dolores Umbridge, a staunch supporter of Lucius Malfoy, was fired and ejected from the Ministry yesterday morning. What say you to the concerns of many that this was a ploy to remove his supporters from preventing his arrest?"

Amelia quirked a brow at the other woman, noting the acid green quill in her hand. "I do believe it has been made abundantly clear Rita that use of a Quick-Quotes-Quill is forbidden in these press conferences, yes?"

Rita seemed flummoxed by the openly confrontational response. "Ah, yes of course I just forgot is all." She muttered, grudgingly putting away the quill and pulling out a different kind. "You haven't answered my question though." She said, her tone turning sickly sweet.

Amelia didn't allow it to faze her, "Mmm, quite. Dolores Umbridge was…escorted from the premises following her termination of employment due to her violating the confidentiality oaths she swore upon taking a position with the Ministry."

Rita looked disappointed, as she struggled to find anything in that statement to niggle at, so Amelia decided to move on. "Now, any more relevant questions?"

The foreign reporter Rita had pushed aside previously, shifted forward shooting the other reporter a filthy look before turning his attention to Amelia. "Stephen Dryden, American Times. There have been…rumours, that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater for some time. Though he escaped prosecution on the basis of being under the Imperius curse. Has new evidence come to light regarding those accusations?"

Amelia shook her head, "I'm afraid specifics on whether or not new evidence was collected will have to wait until the trial. That said, there is a reason those questions have lingered in regards to Lucius and those like him."

She waited, letting them stew on that for a minute. Sadly Rita's funk didn't last very long and she stepped forward again. "Surely someone who has given so much to our society deserves a certain amount of leeway though? Some benefit of the doubt?" She pressed, causing Amelia to wonder just how much of the woman's lifestyle was paid for by Malfoy gold. "After all he has donated great sums of galleons to many worthy institutions. Saint Mungo's for example."

Amelia shrugged, "I'm sure that might be taken into account when he is tried before a jury of his peers. Though it truly should have little bearing on whether or not he is found guilty. Such should always fall to the merit and veracity of the evidence one way or the other."

Once more Rita was pursing her lips unhappily. They continued in this vein, various reporters attempting to gather details on the upcoming trial, while Rita picked at various ways of potentially casting doubts as to Lucius' guilt or casting aspirations on the impartiality of the department.

Finally Rita and the other seemed to run out of avenues to pursue and they were able to move on. Amelia knew that matters were coming to a close when Xenophilius Lovegood stepped forward. "What say you to the rumours that the Ministry has a secret army of Heliopaths?"

Amelia smiled blandly at the man in question. "Ah, Xeno, I had wondered when you'd speak up. I'm afraid I've never heard of such creatures before. So I can safely say I've not heard anything about that myself."

Despite the general lack of actual information in that response Xeno seemed thrilled and happily began jotting down her answer.

"Now, as it seems we've largely exhausted that avenue of discussion there is one other matter the DMLE would like to issue a statement on today." She said, regaining the attention of the press. It wasn't often that the DMLE freely opened new topics of discussion at their press conferences after all.

"As of early this morning, all warrants, BOLOs and kiss-on-sight order for Sirius Black have been rescinded. New evidence and testimony have come to light which prove he was not the one to betray the Potters to their deaths. As such he has been fully exonerated by the Ministry of Magic."

The stunned silence which followed was telling.

Finally one of the reporters seemed to regain control of their vocal cords. "Wait…what?"

Amelia couldn't help the small smirk which graced her lips as she repeated herself.

"But…he escaped Azkaban! Merlin, he spent twelve years in there! How did this happen?" Another reporter asked, clearly aghast.

Amelia grimaced, "As yet the details of how he came to be imprisoned despite his innocence remain unclear, however we are hopeful that a pending investigation into ministry records will shed some light on matters."

She would not however be telling anyone that within the day auror teams would be raiding the homes of both Millicent Bagnold and Bartemius Crouch. Which was sure to be a rude shock for both of them. She was certain Dumbledore for his part would assume he was free and clear. Which was good as it would be an even more unpleasant surprise for him when the aurors showed up at Hogwarts.

She waited for the reporters to collect themselves, finally Rita spoke up, sensing a juicy morsel. "Surely his innocence would have come to light in trial?"

Amelia eyed the woman unfavourably. "Preliminary investigation into records have revealed that he did not in fact receive any trial at all. It appears that someone, somewhere, decided that his guilt was a foregone conclusion and arranged for him to be placed in prison without trial."

They all gaped at her. Finally Xeno raised a tentative hand and she braced herself as she nodded to the eccentric man. "What say you to claims that Sirius Black is actually Stubby Boardman in disguise."

Amelia stifled as sigh, she had a feeling that this was going to be a long day…

* * *

"Well, that was productive at least." Sirius murmured thoughtfully as they exited the bank into the bright morning light.

"I'm still surprised to learn that my family owned so many properties…" Harry admitted walking beside his godfather.

Sirius couldn't help the grimace which settled over his face, hidden once again by a glamour charm from Tonks. "Yeah, I don't know what to make of that, you should have known about them a while ago. I still don't know why you haven't been receiving your bank statements until now."

Harry opened his mouth to agree, when…

"Harry!" A bushy haired missile slammed into him and he staggered. Harry recognized the voice, but was still understandably confused.

"Wha—Hermione?" He managed to stammer out as she pulled back from the hug she'd engulfed him in.

"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you! I was so happy to hear about your godfather in your letter and oh, that disguise you mentioned is ever so good—I asked my parents to come here when I heard you'd be out and about today. I was hoping to run into you. How have you been?" She babbled happily.

Harry chuckled at his best friend's case of motor mouth and smiled, but didn't get a chance to reply just then. "Hermione, give the lad a chance to speak!" Said his friend's mother trotting up and looking exasperated.

Hermione blushed and looked sidelong at the couple now sidling up to the group. Harry recognized them both from the previous year's trip to the alley.

"It's alright Mister and Missus Granger. I don't mind." He assured them.

A cleared throat drew their attention in another direction, "Am I to take it this is one of your friends from school Harry?" Tonks asked, surreptitiously re-holstering her wand.

Sirius snorted in dry amusement, "With a greeting like that I'd assume so!"

It was Harry's turn to look sheepish, "Oh, uh—I suppose I should introduce everyone? This is my best friend, Hermione, and these are her parents." Here he paused as Hermione blushed, looking apologetically at the Granger adults. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names last year…"

Hermione's father smirked slightly in amusement, "Daniel Granger, and this is my wife Emma." He said indicating the woman beside him.

Harry nodded, before looking to Sirius and Tonks, opening his mouth to introduce them only to stop short. "Um…Perhaps it'd be better to finish introductions somewhere more private?"

Sirius gave a start at that, then nodded solemnly, the Granger parents by contrast appeared surprised by this suggestion. "Good idea lad," his godfather reassured him, before checking his watch. "It's coming up on lunch, we might be able to borrow a private dining room at the Leaky Cauldron…assuming you folks haven't eaten already?" He said looking to the Grangers.

Dan and Emma shared a look, before nodding. "That'd be nice I think. Lead the way?" Emma said, looking back to their new acquaintances.

They made their way down the alley to the pub where Tonks approached the bartender quickly upon entering. "One of your dining rooms, Tom?" She prompted.

The cheerful bartender smiled, "But o' course, Auror Tonks. Just follow me."

The group followed him up the stairs and over to one of the dining rooms he had set aside for larger groups. He handed them a few menus as they entered. "Just call if you need anything."

Closing the door after everyone had entered and pulled out her wand. Flicking it at the door a few times, creating a small chain of flashing lights as the spells took effect. "Privacy Wards" she explained when she was finished.

Everyone nodded understanding, though Harry got the impression this was largely perfunctory on the Granger adults' part.

"I suppose I should finish introducing everyone…" Harry began, "Mister and Missus Granger, this is my Godfather, Sirius Black, and his cousin Tonks."

The Granger's blinked and Harry noticed Dan unconsciously place a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Sirius Black, isn't that the name of—"

He didn't get any further before his daughter cut him off. "He's been exonerated Dad, Harry told me in his letter."

Dan eyed his daughter speculatively for a moment, during which time Sirius took the opportunity to speak up. "I understand your concern Mister Granger. If it makes you feel any better, Tonks here is an Auror. The magical equivalent of police officers."

Dan did indeed ease a bit at that, "It does. actually, I'm sorry, I don't mean to seem so suspicious."

Sirius waved that off. "It's no problem. The news should break later today or early tomorrow."

Emma smiled, gently nudging her husband aside. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. And I'm sorry we didn't get much of a chance to interact last year Harry. I was looking forward to getting to know one of Hermione's friends, but what with the…incident in the book shop?"

Harry winced a little remembering the brawl between Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy. "It's okay Missus Granger, I could have done without that fight too."

Apparently Sirius had become somewhat lost due to the conversation as he cut in here, "Fight? What fight?"

Harry glanced sidelong at him. "Mister Weasley and Lucius Malfoy got into a fight last year. I'm pretty sure that was when Malfoy managed to sneak that diary into Ginny's belongings…" Harry said, directing that last part at Hermione, who grimaced in recognition.

"He's an awful man," She hissed irritably, "That diary caused so much trouble at Hogwarts! They almost closed the school!"

Harry winced a bit, thinking of how he might have caused a closure at Hogwarts now too! "What's all this then, a diary? I feel like I'm missing something here." Sirius interjected.

"You're not the only one," Dan said a touch sourly, giving his daughter a significant look. "Does this have anything to do with what had you in the hospital wing for a while?"

Hermione flushed, suddenly looking uneasy, any response she could have made was interrupted by the sound of Tonks clicking her fingers rapidly, "Oh! That's right, you hadn't heard about that yet Sirius! Damn, we're going to need to bring you up to speed, Harry here had had a wild couple years!"

Both teens winced, looking at each other uneasily. That would certainly be enough to pique the parent's interest they were sure. Apparently those parents weren't so oblivious as they'd perhaps prefer.

"Hermione…" Her mother began, using that tone that all teens learn to fear. "What is she talking about? What haven't you been telling us?"

Hermione, for her part, now looked as if she wished a hole would open up in the floor and swallow her whole. "Well, you see, that's a bit of a long story. It's not as bad as they're making it sound…" Her mother simply quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I think Harry's godfather wants to hear it too honey, and we have plenty of time…" Emma said pointedly, causing Hermione to blanch.

Finally, she sighed and shared a weak smile with Harry, who decided to step in and save his friend. "Why don't we eat first, this will take a while…"

* * *

It had taken a while, but Amelia had finally made it back to the safety of her office. Which wasn't to say she was hiding, she was simply getting back to work on the multitude of tasks before her.

Currently, she was looking over the report filed by Kingsley on the matter of the Dursley family. The interviews thus far had uncovered a great deal of…unpleasantness in the Dursley household. More than enough to easily see the Dursley adults thrown into prison for abuse, and more than enough to see the youngster facing a great deal of community service.

They'd be handing them off, eventually, to their contacts with the muggle police departments. However, in the meantime they were proving a valuable source of information about Dumbledore's part in Harry's upbringing.

Amelia closed the last folder before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. Dumbledore was becoming more and more of a problem it seemed. She'd barely returned from the press conference when he had shown up at her door. He had appeared hurt that she hadn't seen fit to include him in the proceedings of exonerating Sirius. Though Amelia didn't trust that impression over much.

Dumbledore was far too good at seeming harmless for her to take him at face value. She had explained to him that it had simply happened too fast, that she'd been given actionable intelligence and had needed to jump on it right away.

She had of course entirely left out Harry's part in affairs. Dumbledore had been disappointed when she'd informed him that she did not 'know' where Sirius Black currently was. He'd been even more disappointed when he learned she had no leads on Harry's whereabouts either.

Altogether it had left her very glad to have the Chief Warlock leaving her office, but it had also driven home how she needed to get things moving on her next set of investigations.

The matter with Malfoy was all but in the bag now, all she needed to do was to successfully nail him to the wall in court. The Dursleys were likewise well sorted. Though it did leave her wondering that Albus had been paying so little attention to the goings on at Privet Drive that he wasn't aware that the family had been taken into custody. It was almost like he didn't want to know what was happening in that house.

Which really just left her with three things to deal with now. The raid on Barty Crouch's home and bringing him in for questioning. The raid on Bagnold's residence and bringing her in. And finally the capture of Peter Pettigrew to tie things in a nice bow on Sirius' case.

Then, and only then, would she be ready to move on to the Investigation into Hogwarts.

There was a knock at her door, and she looked up, calling out to whomever it was to come in. She was pleased to see Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt enter. "Good timing gentlemen. I will keep things brief, as we need to get moving on things quickly."

She shuffled some of the documents on her desk, "I need you, Mad-Eye, to take a squad, of however many you feel you need, to Barty Crouch's home and to bring him in for questioning. You have permission to do a sweep of the residence while you're at it."

He nodded firmly. "I'll get it done."

She looked to Kingsley next. "I need you to do the same for former Minister Bagnold. You have the same clearance as Mad-Eye. Bring her in for questioning and do a sweep of her house. Questions?" When neither spoke up she nodded in satisfaction, "Good, I'll leave you two to it…actually one thing." She said stopping them short as they headed for the doors.

"Send in Hestia would you? I need her for something."

It was a few minutes after that there was another knock at the door, and Hestia Jones entered the room. "Hestia, good. I need you to do me a favour. Tell the medic on duty I want him to prepare for checking someone over for any mind altering magics. Then I want you to go to my place and collect Susan and bring her here. Let me know when you've got her, I want to be there when they check her over."

Hestia's eyebrows rose sharply at the implications of that statement. Shortly after though she shook off her shock and nodded. "Er—right, yeah boss, I'll get right on that." She assured her superior.

Amelia sighed as the younger woman left the office. She simply had to get on top of all the work before her, or the day was going to be even longer than she feared!

* * *

Dan Granger sighed in aggravation, leaning back in his chair and running a hand back through his hair irritably.

This was a right disaster, he decided. They'd just spent the last hour and a half going over what really happened during his daughter's first two years at Hogwarts, and the tale did not paint a pretty picture.

All in all, it left Dan with a lot of questions, and a burning desire to take his family and run for the hills, never to be seen again. However, before he did anything precipitous he wanted an answer to one question above all the others.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell your mother and I what has really been happening at Hogwarts?" He finally asked his daughter.

Hermione couldn't help but blush under the focused attention of her parents. "I—I don't know, it didn't seem important really. I mean—"

Her parents were blinking at her in disbelief. "You were nearly killed by what Sirius has described as twelve feet of muscle, club and bad attitude, nearly eaten by a vicious three headed dog named fluffy, nearly killed again by a number of dangerous traps, petrified by a monstrous snake which can kill with a glance or swallow you whole, and you didn't feel it was important?" Dan asked, skepticism clear in his voice. He noticed a significant look passing between Sirius and Tonks, but chose to ignore it for a moment.

He was having serious trouble accepting that answer, his daughter was many things, most of them good, some of them (stubborn and bossy among them) not so good. But one could not normally claim that Hermione was one to act unthinkingly.

"Pardon me for saying so sweetheart, but that's rather hard to believe." Emma interjected, causing Dan to nod in agreement.

"Why did you think it was unimportant?" Tonks asked curiously, a peculiarly focused expression on her face as she regarded the teenagers.

Hermione looked a bit lost to Dan's eyes, but attempted to answer her. "I don't know. I guess—I guess I just thought the teachers had it well in hand and that I shouldn't worry so much about it."

Dan was about to open his mouth to comment on that lunacy when Tonks held up a hand to stall him as she turned her attention to Harry. "Harry, why didn't you tell anyone what had happened?"

Harry gave her a skeptical look, "You mean aside from the fact that my relatives would probably just have been disappointed that I didn't die?" He asked a touch acerbically, startling Dan and Emma, and causing Sirius to wince. "I guess I just thought it was unimportant too. Besides who else could I have told?"

Tonks looked to Sirius who nodded grimly, before turning her attention back to the teens. "So, just to clarify, you both felt strongly that the teachers had it under control and. That you didn't need to worry about it?"

Harry hesitated then nodded along with Hermione, who appeared glad for the support. "Yeah, that sounds about right I guess."

Tonks looked to Sirius, then to the Granger adults, before looking back at the pair of youth. "Harry, Hermione, would you mind stepping outside for a little bit, don't go far, we'd just like to speak with Hermione's parents for a minute…"

The teens appeared mildly put out at being suddenly excluded from the discussion, but nodded after a minimal amount of eye rolling. Harry helped Hermione to her feet and the pair left the room, closing the door behind them.

Dan looked to Tonks uncertainly. "Please, please, tell me you're as concerned with all that as I am!"

Tonks raised her hands placatingly. "I can safely say that we are both just as concerned as you. Something isn't right here, but I can't put my finger on just what."

At the skeptical looks coming from the Grangers Sirius decided to step in. "She means that there may be something more going on than two stubborn and oblivious teenagers."

Emma looked decidedly worried now and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Do you think someone is preventing them from coming forward about this? Putting pressure on them to keep silent?"

Dan gave a start at that notion but quickly fell into a thoughtful silence as he considered that possibility. Sirius grimaced, but shook his head. "Not exactly, not in the way you mean I think." He hedged.

"We think—though we're not sure by any means, that someone might have bespelled or otherwise magically manipulated them to make them truly believe it's not a big deal." Tonks stated, laying their concerns out there.

The Grangers blinked in shock at that. "That—That's possible, someone could do that sort of thing to them?"

Tonks nodded seriously, "That and more, the mind is not naturally protected from magic. You need to learn a specific discipline to shield it from some forms of manipulations. And even that doesn't protect against all methods." She murmured. "Someone with a strong will can resist to a certain degree, if they know they are being manipulated, but if they don't even realize, they won't know to try and resist."

She hummed thoughtfully to herself, "If what I am suspecting is true, it is likely we only learned about it at all because we forced the issue both times Harry has been forced to discuss the matter.

Dan and Emma shared a look and a grimace. "You'll pardon me for saying so miss Tonks, but that isn't exactly comforting to hear. On the one hand I am…pleased, I suppose, to hear my daughter might not legitimately believe the issue unimportant. However on the other hand I am deeply disturbed to hear that she might have been attacked in some way. Why are we not warned about such things before we agree to send our children to Hogwarts?"

Tonks nodded again, "It is worrying to us that Harry feels the same, I assure you. As for your question about why you were not warned? I can venture a guess. Our community is small enough as it is, and relies, much to the chagrin of blood purists, on the new infusions of magical blood we get with Muggleborns entering our society. If they were all to turn away because they were too afraid of what might happen and what they might face, well…it could be disastrous in a number of ways."

Needless to say the Granger adults were not pleased with that.

"That is neither here nor there though…" Sirius interjected. "We need to figure out what to do in the meantime."

Tonks inclined her head at her cousin, "On that front at least, you'll be pleased to hear I have an idea."

Dan and Emma shared another look before nodding at her to go ahead. "Very well, let's hear it."

* * *

As the door closed behind them with a click, a quiet hush fell over them. Tonks had no doubt applied a silencing charm to keep them from listening in, and silence settled between the two teens, both lost in thought about what they just discussed with the adults. After nearly a full minute, both began to talk at the same time, but shut up again as soon as they noticed the other one talking as well. Sheepish grins settled on their faces, but Hermione was quicker this time. "You first."

Harry shrugged, accepting the invitation to speak. "You know me and my opinion of going to the teachers when it comes to most emergencies," he said.

Hermione snorted in amusement and Harry continued.

"And I didn't exactly have any er— 'parental figures' I could discuss this with" He admitted, before frowning. "Maybe Sirius, but I haven't really known him for long, or had that many opportunities to talk with him about things yet. So that could explain why I didn't tell anyone about what happened at Hogwarts." He then pointed at her teasingly, "You however— Miss 'Or worse, expelled—" A small grin appeared on his face, as Hermione blushed and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Prat." She muttered, but smiled despite herself.

"You are what concerns me. I don't see any reason for you not to tell anyone about what was going on. 'It didn't seem important' doesn't make sense. That's not like you, so something's going on there…"

Hermione worried her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, and opened her mouth to comment on the truth of that statement, only to be interrupted when the door cracked open allowing Tonks to poke her head out.

"Hey you two, wanna come back in? We have some stuff to discuss with you…"

* * *

A few minutes after receiving a message from Hestia informing her that her niece was now in the building, and after sorting away the last of her paperwork, Amelia finally strode into the Medic's office on the main floor.

She was fortunate in a way that she had yet to take her lunch break, so she could utilize this time for seeing her niece without issue.

The medic on duty, Healer Jonas Aubrey, looked up from his paperwork, and nodded to her as she entered.

"Ah, Madam Bones, good timing. Auror Jones was just informing me you wished me to look over your niece." Healer Aubrey said, before straightening his uniform. "Now, it's not unheard of for members of the Auror corps to bring in family members to see us here—greater confidentiality and all that—I do find myself curious as to why you particularly feel she should be seeing me instead of her usual healer at Saint Mungo's?"

Amelia nodded, casting a quick glance at her niece, who was shifting uncomfortably on the edge of an examination table. "Simply put?" She started, before shrugging. "I don't know who I can trust, and my niece's usual healer is off today anyways. I'd like you to look her over for signs of compulsion charms and potions with similar effects. She's been acting a bit atypically."

Susan gave a start, mouth popping open in surprise as she stared at her aunt. Amelia felt compelled to explain herself a bit. "You never hesitated to pass along information which was obviously important before Susan, so why would you withhold it now?"

The healer gave his superior a quizzical look for a moment before nodding thoughtfully. "Well, that's an easy enough check to run. Not terribly invasive either. Yes, I can handle that." He agreed.

He pulled out his wand, before looking seriously to the now nervous youth on the table. "If you're alright with it Miss Bones I'll begin running some diagnostics."

Susan nodded jerkily and he began casting as she lay back on the table. Eventually, the healer began to hum thoughtfully to himself and nodded, before looking to Amelia again. "Interesting…you're niece wasn't it? She has been exposed to some sort of compulsion. If I wasn't looking for it specifically, I'd likely have missed it in a regular check."

At her questioning expression he elaborated. "It's not a standard compulsion charm, it is much more subtle than that. Long acting, but much less blatant in its approach."

Amelia frowned deeply upon having her suspicions confirmed. "Any idea how she was hit with it?"

Unfortunately he was already shaking his head. "Not enough data really. It could be anywhere at anytime. Though I'm inclined to believe it is some sort of magical field or ward as opposed to an out and out spell." He stated before turning his attention to the diagnostics. "Nothing else of note really, no potions, curses, charms or hexes. I assume your healer has informed you that you're officially entering the main stages of puberty young lady?" He asked, directing that last part at Susan, who blushed before nodding.

"Good, then I'll assume that's all being handled appropriately…" He murmured.

Amelia caught his eye again, "Can you remove the compulsion? Can you tell what it does exactly?"

He paused, considering. "It's a behavioural suggestion, though I can't tell you what it's instructing her to do specifically. Not with it being as subtly woven into her psyche as it is. You'll need to see a mind healer to learn more or to remove it I believe."

Amelia grimaced and was about to ask about that when there was a knock at the door. Healer Aubrey sighed and moved to crack the door open a bit.

"Sorry to bother you Healer Aubrey, but Auror Tonks brought in a pair of teenagers to see you." The medical secretary informed him.

Amelia perked up upon hearing just who it was. "Alright I'll just finish up here then—" the healer started only to stop when she moved to join them.

"My apologies, I am sorry to intrude, but would you happen to know the names of the teenagers in question?"

The secretary flushed upon recognizing her. "Oh, Madam Director, didn't know it was you in there. I—er, yes ma'am. They claim to be Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. The girl's parents are here too."

Amelia looked to the Healer, who was looking to her questioningly. "Two of Susan's year mates I believe. You've mentioned a Hermione Granger before haven't you Susan?" She directed that last part to her niece.

Susan nodded, sitting up again. "She's in Gryffindor, really smart too. Top of our year group." She confirmed.

The healer seemed intrigued. "Really? A couple of her year mates? And one of them happens to be the Boy-Who-Lived…what a coincidence…" he said giving Amelia a significant look.

She nodded back, recognizing the look for what it was. True coincidences were not common in their line of work. She wondered just what it was that had brought them in to the office today.

"If you'd show the auror in, I'd like to talk with her before we go any further." Amelia instructed the Secretary who needed and hurried off.

A couple moments later Tonks walked in, "Hello ma'am, hey Susie Q! How's it going?" Tonks asked, smiling brightly at the young teen. She and Susan had always gotten along well whenever they'd met previously.

Amelia smirked in amusement at her niece's wince at the nickname. "I hear you brought in Harry and one of his classmates. Can you tell me why?"

Tonks nodded looking serious, before hesitating when she spotted Susan again. "Er—"

Amelia sighed. "If, perchance, this has anything to do with a compulsion of some kind. Susan's just been found to have been exposed to one too."

Tonks gave a start, appearing surprised. "Uh—yeah, actually it does. What are the odds of that?"

Healer Aubrey snorted in amusement, "If we're talking about coincidence? Vanishingly small," He asserted firmly. "If we're talking about them being in some way connected? Much more likely."

Tonks nodded. "Want me to bring them in?" She asked Amelia, who looked to the Healer.

"Normally, I'd balk at the idea of examining separate parties in the same room as each other. That said, if they're suffering from the same issue, likely stemming from the same source, cross examining them might be to our benefit." He allowed.

Amelia nodded to Tonks. "Bring them in,"

Tonks returned a minute later with a small group in tow.

"Hey Harry, Hermione." Susan greeted from her place on the edge of the table.

"Hey Susan," The pair chorused back.

Amelia shot Tonks a questioning look, "Am I to take it then, that Harry's godfather isn't with you right now?"

Tonks frowned, but nodded. "He thought it might be best, under the circumstances, for him to wait back at the house with mum."

Healer Aubrey looked between Amelia and Tonks, before looking to Harry. "Am I to take then, that the lad, which is to say you Mister Potter, do not have a legal guardian with you?"

Harry looked uncomfortable, but nodded agreement. "Hm, under the circumstances, perhaps we can work around that. You do after all have the Director of Magical Law Enforcement in the room to 'keep me honest' as the saying goes."

The girl's parents shifted uncomfortably and the healer straightened himself out again. "Now, allow me to introduce myself and explain the situation. My name is Healer Aubrey. I serve as the on staff medic here at the DMLE. It has come to our attention you are concerned your daughter and mister Potter may have been exposed to compulsions or other mental manipulations of some sort. Correct?"

The Granger adults nodded, "Yes, that sounds about right," the mother agreed. The kids shifted nervously as attention turned to them.

"Good. Now, the next part is not very invasive, especially compared to muggle medicine, but I do need permission from you, the parents, and Mister Potter before I can continue."

The parents murmured their acceptance and Harry nodded. "You can go ahead," He said to the adults in the room.

The healer smiled reassuringly. "Alright you two, jump up on the table beside Susan here." He instructed and both teenagers hurried to comply.

He started with Harry, casting his diagnostics which drew runic sigils in the air before him, and soon enough he was nodding, before repeating the process on Hermione.

Amelia noticed the girl was nervously chewing her lip and that Harry reached out to grasp her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze, whispering something in her ear.

As the runic sigils appeared in the air again, the girl's father spoke up. "I assume those…things, in the air mean something to you?"

Healer Aubrey glanced his way before nodding. "Yes, they do actually. I'll spare you the details of how to read a runic sigil, but all three diagnostics I've cast have come back relatively similarly. Your daughter, Mister Potter, and Miss Bones have all been exposed to some sort of compulsion…"

Needless to say, none present were pleased with that, but the Healer was allowed to continue uninterrupted. "What that compulsion does, specifically, is hard to pin down without examining the source, however I have a feeling the Director has an idea or two."

Amelia nodded seriously. "I suspect that the compulsion is geared towards ensuring that no one comments on the strange happenings at Hogwarts. How they are exposed to this compulsion is still a mystery to me, but I know some people who might have some ideas should I bring it to them."

Amelia considered how to proceed, "How long ago were they exposed?"

The healer shrugged, "I'd say last exposure was around the end of last term."

She nodded, some more pieces falling into place in her mind. "Probably at the school, maybe as they were preparing to leave. I wonder if the students are affected at all times, or just when they're preparing to leave the grounds, such as on Hogsmeade weekends? No, if that were the case then they could send letters describing the issues at hand…"

She glanced at the confused parents, before sighing, chagrined. "My apologies, you don't need to hear my speculations really. I assume you are most curious as to how the compulsions might be removed?" They nodded and she grimaced in acknowledgement.

"I asked the same question when he diagnosed Susan. He recommended seeing a mind healer. I don't know if there are any other alternatives?" She asked looking to Aubrey again.

He shrugged, though not like he didn't care. "like with any spell, the effects will fade with time. Time and distance from the issue will solve many ailments, and this one was intended to be more subtle than most, so its power is not that great. That said, you could perhaps look into Occlumency training for them as well."

Harry, she noticed, was now casting searching looks at Hermione, then Tonks, then back again. Tonks, apparently saw the looks and interpreted them correctly, because she sighed. "If you're thinking what I think you are Harry, you'll want to ask S—Your godfather first."

If Healer Aubrey had caught the slip, he gave no sign.

Harry blushed at the gentle rebuke and nodded. "Sorry, you're right."

The Granger adults shared a look before looking to the lad again. "I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" The mother asked, confused.

Harry flushed in embarrassment. "I just thought…well, my godfather and I are thinking of going on a trip soon, you know, to get away from it all for a while…I just—I thought it might be nice to have Hermione along." He stammered, before blinking as a thought occurred to him. "Oh, and you too if you want to come of course!"

Hermione's parents glanced at their daughter, who had perked up noticeably at that and was looking expectant as she awaited their reply.

"Where would this trip be exactly?" The girl's father asked eventually.

Harry winced, "I don't know exactly, we'd be visiting some of my family's homes around the world and some of—my godfather's."

The parents considered that for a moment, "If it would help with this…compulsion issue, we might consider it, but we'd want to speak with your godfather first and get some details.

Harry nodded understanding and looked to Tonks who rolled her eyes and smirked in amusement. "Yes, we can head back to the house after we're done here, so you can speak with him."

Amelia couldn't help but smile at the giddy looks of anticipation gracing the kid's faces.

She was about to comment on the whole conversation when a knock at the door interrupted her, she paced over to open it, only to find Hestia standing there looking agitated.

"Sorry to interrupt boss, word just came in, you're need in the bullpen."

* * *

Amelia swept into the Bullpen a couple minutes later to find the area in chaos. People were running about, a pair of medics were crouched over a man's body on the floor and she could see a family with familiar red hair standing in the corner while their matriarch yelled hysterically at an auror trying to shuffle them from the room.

She could also see a hitwizard working to keep curious aurors away from the body while the medics worked, and made her way towards the centre of the debacle. It was only as she stalked closer that she recognized the body on the floor. It was a bloody mess, but she could easily recognize the man as Peter Pettigrew.

She sighed, grimacing at the noise and general lack of order in the office and raised her wand, firing off a canon blast spell causing silence to abruptly fall across the room.

"Alright, now that you're all in control of yourselves again, would someone kindly tell me what happened here?"

The silence persisted however and she cast a jaded eye across the lot of them. "Well?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thank you to my betas for this chapter. Volksbrot, zcnk, twilliams1797 and Temporal Knight. On another note, please review. Hearing your feedback really helps a great deal.

 **Update:** Also thanks to Q Elwyn D and Bonsly24 as of Oct.22.2019.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** You may notice some odd formatting issues in my story from time to time, this has to do with my method of writing. It involves planning and writing it up on my computer's word processor, then transplanting it into Google Docs for betaing, then transplanting it a third time to the file uploader here on Fanfiction. All three systems use different formatting and thus things get messed up from time to time. My apologies.

 **Update:** Edited and Updated as of Oct.22.2019.

* * *

 **Early Evening August 8th 2013**

Amelia sighed explosively as she sat herself down in her chair opposite Arthur Weasley.

"Long Day?" Arthur asked sympathetically, causing her to snort in amusement. Arthur was a good sort, maybe not as aware of the intricacies of the muggle world as he should be considering his job, but an all around decent human being.

"Long week actually." She grumbled, getting an understanding smile from the man.

She picked up a sheaf of parchment and set it on the table, flattening it with a charm, before setting a self-inking dicta quill on it. "Alright, let's begin then shall we? Interview of Arthur Weasley, concerning the demise of Peter Pettigrew, August 8th, by myself, Amelia Bones, Director of Magical Law Enforcement."

Arthur straightened as the quill began recording what she'd said. "Am I being charged with something Amelia?"

She shook her head, "No, however I need to get a statement on just what happened with Pettigrew, and frankly you seem to be handling the incident the best of the lot." She confessed, before hesitating and correcting herself. "Well, you and your lad Bill, but I'd prefer to get your perspective before we go any further."

The rest of the Weasley family was in disarray over the incident, with Molly Weasley defaulting to her normal form, shrieking hysterically to anyone in hearing range. Ron and Percy had fallen into a sort of horrified stupor from what she could tell. The youngest Weasley, Ginny appeared stunned more than anything, while her older twin brothers were uncharacteristically quiet and reserved. The last Weasley sibling, Charlie had merely appeared confused.

Arthur nodded acceptance, before hesitating. "Pettigrew? You can't mean Peter Pettigrew surely? I thought he was dead?" Arthur exclaimed.

Amelia smiled wanly at him, "I can actually, it's a rather sad and convoluted story at this point in truth, but we'll come back to that later." She shook herself a bit and got back on task. "Now, I'm given to understand that you've had the…rat, which turned out to be an animagus, in your family for quite some time."

She knew this much from simply listening to Molly's shrieking on their way into the interview rooms.

Arthur nodded stoically, "Yes, it—he, was found by my son Percy years ago out in the garden. We had no idea it—he, was an animagus I assure you!"

She nodded easily, watching the dicta quill record that as Arthur settled himself again.

"A typical garden rat does not live that long, perhaps only a handful of years at best?" She noted, looking back to Arthur. "Particularly when living in the wild. "Why did you not become suspicious when the rat lived longer than that?"

Arthur winced, then grimaced unhappily. "Honestly, I never really thought about it that much. I thought perhaps the rat tonics and such we'd given him occasionally were extending his life, or that maybe he was just a touch magical."

He blinked, then flushed angrily, "Good Merlin! He's been living in my house for years! Who knows what he's gotten up to?"

Amelia could understand his consternation, but only hummed in acknowledgement. "Now, as you may be aware, given everything that's happened, I came to suspect that your son's rat was not what he appeared to be while you were away on vacation." She said calmly, getting a rather sickly looking nod from Arthur. "Now, given the…connection between Peter Pettigrew, his believed death and the events surrounding Sirius Black's incarceration and betrayal of Potters, I ordered a team of Hit Wizards dispatched to bring in the rat for questioning."

Again he was nodding, so she pressed on. "Might I then ask, as to the events surrounding the demise of Mister Pettigrew?"

The wizard nodded, visibly collecting himself once more. "We'd just exited one of the tombs Bill was showing us. Fred and George had tried to seal Percy inside you see, so we didn't notice the Hit Wizards right away…"

She nodded, gesturing for him to continue. Fred and George's tendency towards pranking was well known throughout the Ministry. Particularly after they'd caused a minor kerfuffle after attempting to send a prank via owl to their father and it had been detected by the wards.

"The rat seemed to know something was up, as my youngest son, Ron, started to struggle with handling him." Arthur relayed, frowning as he tried to remember details. "The Hit Wizards announced their presence and I admit we were shocked. It took a couple seconds for us to get what they were asking for and to put our hands in the air as requested."

Here he frowned. "The rat—Pettigrew, must have suspected what was happening as he bit Ron on the finger and made a run for it, back towards the tomb. Perhaps he thought he could hide in there?" He speculated. "It was a shock, I can tell you, when the Hit Wizards started firing spells at what I thought at the time was a rat."

She nodded, "Did you follow the rat…Pettigrew, into the tomb?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No, I was too busy hoping the Hit Wizards wouldn't start casting at my family next!"

That was an appropriate reaction given the circumstances, Amelia thought. "So you didn't actually see what happened next, did you?" Again he shook his head.

"No, but the Hit Wizards did, and they came back out a few minutes later with Pettigrew's body in tow. At first I thought they'd gotten him themselves, but the lead Hit Wizard stopped and turned to Bill." Arthur noted. "You, you're a curse-breaker, correct? He said…"

He drew a deep breath then continued, "My son agreed that he was. Then the man ordered him to follow him back into the tomb. Bill told me, on the way back here, that the rat, Pettigrew, had run afoul of one of the old trap wards in the tomb." Here he paused, shuddering. "Wouldn't wish that on anyone I should think, those traps are horrible, judging by the way Bill always described them."

Amelia inclined her head in agreement, thinking on just what she'd seen of Peter's body. He'd been in rough condition by the time the wards were done with him. She took a moment to check over her notes before disabling the dicta-quill and continuing. "Alright, I think I have enough to be getting started. However, I have a couple other matters to discuss with you."

Arthur looked surprised, and stared at her quizzically, wondering what else they could possibly need to discuss. "It is my understanding that your youngest children, Ginny and Ron, were both wrapped up in what happened at Hogwarts last year."

The wizard paled, then looked angry. She could understand that reaction, given what she knew of affair thus far. "Yes," He stated shortly.

"You'll be pleased to know we've arrested Lucius Malfoy in connection with the incident." She said casually, stifling the urge to smirk, knowing that behind that relieved look on his face Arthur was likely doing the happy dance. The animosity between Arthur and Lucius was well known.

"That's good to hear," He managed to say without laughing. "Albus wasn't hopeful that anything could be done about the matter."

Amelia kept her expression carefully blank. "So you have already discussed this matter with the Chief Warlock?" She asked.

He nodded hurriedly, "Oh yes, he was very helpful in fact. Filled us in on what had happened. I'm glad to hear something was done despite his fears that nothing would come of it."

Amelia stifled the urge to frown. "Did he perchance discuss the matter of the artifact involved with you?"

Another shake of the head from Arthur, She nodded acceptance, that was true after all, so far as it went. The Horcrux could have killed Ginny outright. "No, he said it was dark though and told us that we were lucky it didn't do far worse to Ginny."

"I have done a bit of poking around, since learning of the…incident in question. I fear he may have been understating matters somewhat." Amelia prodded.

Arthur shifted uncomfortably. "Ah, well. I'm sure he didn't want to upset us more than we already were."

She hummed her apparent agreement. "Have you considered taking your daughter in to Saint Mungo's? She may need the services of a mind healer given what she's been through."

The man grimaced again, then shook his head. "We discussed it." He said, his tone clearly conveying it hadn't been much of a conversation. "Albus seemed to think it unnecessary, and Molly never was one for farming out anything we might be able to handle on our own. It was around then we started talking about going on a trip to relax and unwind you know? That Prewett sense of pride."

Amelia considered him seriously for a moment. That was also likely true so far as it went. She could easily see a harridan like Molly feeling so, and insisting they not go to Saint Mungo's. She suspected however, that Albus' motives were less pure. "I'm sorry to say this Arthur, but I'm going to have to disagree with your wife and the Chief Warlock on this matter. I feel I must strongly recommend you get your daughter in to see a mind healer as soon as possible. In fact, once we're done here, I'd like to have all your children looked over by our on staff medic, just in case."

Arthur appeared justifiably startled at that. "I-if you think that's for the best, I don't see why not."

She paused, considering him again. A thought had been niggling at her about all this for a while now. "Tell me Arthur, have you discussed what happened at Hogwarts with your oldest? Bill I mean? He's quite knowledgeable about dark magic after all."

He winced, and then blushed a bit in embarrassment. "No, not yet anyways. I had thought to maybe speak with him about it though. But I didn't want to disrupt the vacation you understand?"

She hummed thoughtfully to herself. "Perhaps it is time we correct that oversight?" she mused aloud, before standing and walking to the door and opening it. She spotted the rest of the Weasleys sitting in the waiting area nearby.

Several of them looked over at the sound of the door opening. "Bill, could I borrow you for a bit? We could use your insights on something."

Bill nodded easily and rolled to his feet before strolling over. "Madam Director," He greeted in an easy-going drawl.

She smirked in amusement at his attitude. "If you'll just step inside for a moment, we could use your opinion on something."

Bill nodded and entered, with her closing the door behind them once more. "This has to do with what happened in the tomb I assume?" He started. "I already told the Hit Wizards everything I knew about the matter."

She shook a head gesturing to the chair beside his father, indicating he should sit. "No actually, it has to do with an incident involving your youngest sibling at Hogwarts."

He blinked in surprise at that assertion, and she continued. "I'll refrain from wasting any time and get down to it shall I?" She asked rhetorically, before staring him evenly in the eye. "Have you ever heard about Horcruxes?"

His reaction was startling, his easy going attitude falling away immediately as he straightened, paling dramatically, eyes widening. "Yes Madam Director, I can say that I have. Though I sorely wish I hadn't."

She nodded, "What can you tell me about them?"

He swallowed, shooting his father a concerned look. "They're amongst the darkest magics known to man. Herpo the Foul is credited with their invention, but he barely scratched the surface. The Egyptians were the most…prolific of those to dabble in such things."

He settled a bit as he started to elaborate. "They're a method of cheating death you see. A means to split the soul and store or protect the fragments in various vessels, preventing a person from passing on when killed. The practice was largely abandoned after one too many Pharaohs found the costs not worth the supposed reward…"

He looked confusedly between his father and Amelia. "I could tell you more, even how to destroy one, but what does this have to do with Ginny?"

Arthur is wide eyed and horrified at what had just been described to him, Amelia for her part was grimacing. "Your sister stumbled across one during the last school year."

"At Hogwarts?" Bill gasped. "What was one doing there? No, scratch that, is she okay? Why didn't anyone tell me about it?" He asked, looking to his father.

It was Amelia who responded first however. "Your sister is well enough…for now. She was enthralled by the device she stumbled across and led to do things she wouldn't do otherwise. It was only through the actions of another student that she was freed from its influence and the device destroyed."

Bill was still pale though. "Ginny found a Horcrux at Hogwarts? Who…how?"

"Lucius Malfoy, who as I've just told your father is in the cells at present awaiting trial for this. He secreted the device, a diary, among your sister's belongings after a scuffle at Flourish and Blott's last summer."

Bill was rapidly approaching furious now, and Arthur looked horrified, likely remembering his part in the scuffle in question. She pressed on. "As for who the diary belonged to? It was the creation of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known by the alias Lord Voldemort."

Arthur paled further and Bill looked stunned.

"Now, as I said, the device has been destroyed, the Chief Warlock currently has its…remains in his possession as I understand it."

Bill was shaking now, "Ginny was possessed by a Horcrux created by You-Know-Who? And you're sure she's alright? How was it destroyed?" He asked urgently.

She could understand his concerns, Croaker had informed her just how difficult it was to truly destroy a Horcrux and knew that the consequences of it still being active would have been severe for Ginny.

"Yes, I've reviewed the memories of the final confrontation with the Unspeakables. They concur that she was freed from its influence. As for how it was destroyed. The other student, Harry Potter if you were curious, stabbed it with a Basilisk fang taken from the beast the diary was using your sister to direct."

She paused, allowing him to digest that. "Now, while she has been freed, there has been no follow up on her mental condition. Given what you know of Horcruxes, would you say it is needful for me to have her looked over by our on-staff medic?"

There was no hesitance on Bill's part here. "Absolutely. Even if the thing didn't manage to finish—" Here he shot his father a cautious look, "What it was doing to her, it would have done a great deal of damage to her psyche."

She nodded agreement, "Very well, then you can help your father and I to convince your mother to cooperate. If you two will come with me we'll see about getting all the children looked over."

She stood and they moved to follow suit, Arthur shaking his head. "I think it's about time I had a long talk with Molly about unbending that pride of hers and seeking appropriate experts opinions on things. One word from Dumbledore that everything is hunky dory and she has us putting our daughter's welfare at risk…" He muttered.

She nodded seriously, but decided not to touch the issue of a likely family squabble. It did however remind her of something important. "Oh, before we go out there. Just a favour I'd ask of you. Try not to mention this incident outside your family just yet. There is an ongoing investigation into it."

They nodded acceptance and she held the door for them. "After you then."

* * *

"Thank you so much for opening your home to us Missus Tonks, and on such short notice too!" Emma Granger said sincerely as she trailed after Andromeda who was leading them deeper into her home.

"It is no problem at all," Andromeda assured her with a smile over her shoulder, before pausing at the foot of the house's main stair to holler up them. "Sirius, your godson's home, and he brought guests!"

There was the sound of footsteps and Sirius Black appeared at the top of the stairs. "No need to shout Andy, your house isn't that big." Sirius noted sardonically, before turning his attention to the others. "Ah, where are my manners? Hello again, did your meeting with the DMLE go well?" He asked starting down the stairs.

Dan grimaced unhappily, "Yes and no. You and miss Tonks were correct, they are under a 'compulsion' of some sort. Madam Bones is promising to look into it."

Sirius scowled thoughtfully as he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. "Does she have any idea who's behind it?"

Emma shook her head, "No, not really. The best we have right now is that it likely happened at Hogwarts." She said earning a rueful shake of the head from Sirius.

"I really don't get it, just what is going on in that castle?" He muttered rhetorically, before returning to the matter at hand. "I take it that as you are all here, you need something from me or the Tonkses?"

Here the Granger adults eyes turned to Harry who shifted nervously, it was Dan who spoke up first however, "Your godson was kind enough to suggest that our daughter might be welcome on the trip you and he are planning."

Emma stepped forward here, "We wanted to speak with you about it before we considered it however."

Sirius blinked, then nodded easily. "You'd be okay with that? I mean—I was a wanted man fairly recently. Would you be coming along too?"

Dan and Emma shared a look between them before they both started shaking their heads. "No, I'm afraid I don't think we—Emma and I that is— will be able to get away from work long enough. As for your other questions, yes, I believe we'd be okay with that. You've effectively been vouched for by Miss Tonks, who would be going with you, as well as the director of your law enforcement." Dan said, before shrugging. "You also seem a reasonable sort, considering our discussion earlier and the healer suggested getting away for a while might be in our daughter's best interest."

Sirius nodded slowly, mulling that over, before looking to the teens who were watching him expectantly. He couldn't help the smirk which graced his lips at their obviously eager expressions. "If Dora is okay with watching over one more of us, I don't see why we couldn't bring your daughter along."

Harry beamed at his godfather.

Dan nodded seriously, but it was his wife who spoke up. "Where would you be taking them exactly?"

Sirius shrugged, "A number of places I suspect, there are several Potter and Black properties around the world which likely haven't been visited in a while. As I recall there were some Potter properties besides those here in England we wanted to hit up. There's one in Canada, another in the Sandwich Islands…Might see about hitting a Black Property in Louisiana and another in France."

The Granger adults looked to each other, "What do you think?" Emma asked.

Dan made a face, then sighed. "I don't see anything wrong with that. Sounds like she'll get some sun, but assuming she's careful and sticks with the adults she should be reasonably safe…Not that I think you're a troublemaker lad." He hurried to assure Harry at the end.

Emma nodded agreement, smiling at him as well. "Then, I'd say we should be okay with that. When would you be leaving? How would you be travelling?"

Both Sirius and Dora were prevented from responding by Harry cheering, Hermione smiling happily beside him, shivering with excitement, but soon enough Sirius managed to get a word in edgewise. "Soon, very soon. With my exoneration coming out in the news today or tomorrow it'd be better to be out of town for a while." He explained.

"As for how we'd travel. Normally it'd be by international portkey organized by the Ministry. That said, we want to avoid the attention that would no doubt come with, so I was thinking we'd have to travel by muggle air or boat."

The Grangers blinked in surprise at that. "I don't know what a portkey is," Dan admitted. "But travelling by boat isn't as easy as it used to be, unless you're taking a cruise of course. Most people just go by plane these days."

It was Sirius' turn to blink, but he was soon nodding. "Ah, I'll take your word for it. How long does going by air usually take?"

Dan shrugged. "Depends where you're going, it's only an hour or so to Paris from London most days. To North America though—closer to half or three quarters of a day."

Sirius rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered that. There was a small snicker from the sidelines however and the adults all turned to see Harry, who rapidly appeared apologetic. "Sorry, I was just thinking of the ways to get places magically."

At their quizzical expressions he explained himself. "I don't really fancy flying on a broom for that kind of a distance, portkeys are out for the reasons Sirius mentioned, I don't know if there's such a thing as international floo travel, but I imagine that's out too." He said, looking thoughtful. "Which led me to think of the Knight Bus, or Mister Weasley's car. And then I imagined being cooped up in that tiny car flying over the Atlantic."

Hermione rolled her eyes fondly at her friend. "That would not be comfortable. That car only flew about as quickly as a car can drive on the ground. That'd take a couple days, and as I recall the car didn't have bathrooms like a plane does."

Sirius stared at them slightly disbelievingly. "Arthur Weasley has a flying car?"

Harry bobbed his head, then looked a bit melancholy. "Yeah—or rather I should say he used to have one. To my knowledge, the thing is still driving around in the Forbidden Forest after that run in with the whomping willow and the spiders. He told me he got it during an auror raid he was assigned to help out with. Said it was made by my parents, though they weren't really certain how the previous owner got a hold of it."

Sirius sighed, nodding wistfully. "Your parents were good at that sort of thing. Modifying muggle vehicles and such I mean. My motorbike, wherever it is, was fixed up by them as a gift. It could fly too. Didn't know they'd made anything of that size again though."

Harry nodded. "I know Hagrid has a flying motorcycle. And apparently they're not the only ones doing it anymore. He said the Ministry keeps a few magical cars, and they confiscated another unauthorized one shipped in from Canada." He paused here thinking, Sirius had brightened somewhat at the mention of a flying motorcycle in Hagrid's possession. "Hey Sirius, do you remember the name of the place where my family property in Canada is?"

After a moment's thought it came to Sirius, "Canmore…Alberta I believe, why?"

Harry grinned, "I thought that name sounded familiar, Arthur said that's the area that unauthorized vehicle was shipped from."

Sirius was evidently surprised by that judging by his expression. "Huh, I know your parents visited Canada once or twice, maybe they've got a friend out there who does similar work? We could take a look around while we're out there if you want?"

Harry brightened, apparently pleased at the thought of meeting someone else who might have known his parents well. Sirius was painfully reminded of just how little Harry knew about his family, but shook that off and pressed on. "Regardless, it sounds like going by plane is the way to go. Do you know how we could book a spot on one of them?" He asked looking to the Granger adults again.

They nodded quickly, "It's easy enough to arrange," Emma hurried to assure him. "You could buy a ticket at Heathrow of course, though that's somewhat less efficient. It might be a while before a flight where you're wanting to go comes up. It's easier to book online and then go to the airport when it's closer to the departure time."

This met with an uncomprehending look from Sirius. "Online?" He asked.

Hermione opened her mouth, only to close it and settle back down at a look from her parents. Now was not the time for an explanation apparently. "We could handle that for you, assuming you have the information we need to book the funds for it." Dan mused. "We'd need to go back to our house to do it though. Unless you have a computer with internet access Missus Tonks." He said looking to Andromeda again.

Andromeda shook her head, looking amused. "No, I know what a computer is, and even what the internet is thanks to Ted and his relatives, but we aren't skilled at modifying that sort of thing to work in a magical house."

Emma nodded and looked to Sirius and Dora again. "Perhaps we could have you over for dinner and see about booking some tickets for you? We could use a chance to get to know you, miss Tonks and Harry better, Mister Black."

Sirius nodded, looking to Dora who shrugged before looking to Andromeda, who shook her head. "I haven't even begun to plan dinner yet, so you wouldn't be upsetting me any." She. Informed him.

He looked back to the Grangers and nodded, "If you are willing that sounds wonderful. What time were you thinking?"

"Well, it's about five thirty now, how about six or six thirty?" Dan suggested.

Sirius checked his watch, confirming Dan's statement on the time. "I hadn't realized that much time had passed! That should be fairly quick though wouldn't it?" He said thinking of house long it typically took to prepare a meal, even using magic.

Emma didn't seem concerned however, "We'll likely be ordering in, if that helps."

He shrugged, "Believe me when I say that basically anything sounds good right about now."

The Granger adults looked to Dora. "Will you be joining us miss Tonks?"

Dora smiled, speaking for the first time since arriving home, "I'd love to, but why don't you two start calling me Dora. With my family here it gets a bit confusing calling me by my last name I'll admit."

The Grangers nodded acceptance, but Dora gave a start as a thought occurred to her. "Sorry, before I forget Sirius, I have something from Amelia for you!" She said reaching into her pocket to withdraw a wand and offer it to him.

His eyes widened, recognizing the wand in her hand, reaching out for it, only to stop short and look at her. "Is that, that is my wand right?"

Dora beamed at him, "Yup, Amelia said she's been keeping it safe for you."

He reached out and grasped it, smiling at a warm tingle working its way up his arm. "Good to have you back old friend…"

* * *

Amelia rubbed tiredly at her forehead as she exited the medic's office, she had a bad headache now. The healer had just finished confirming her suspicions about the Weasley children. The headache was not the result of hearing the outcome of Healer Aubrey's tests. It was from the volume Molly Weasley's voice had reached when she found out all of her children had been exposed to a compulsion at some point. In addition to confirming Ginny's exposure to dark magic.

That her screaming about it was not helping anything was apparently lost on the Weasley Matriarch. It had taken some careful verbal footwork on Amelia's part to keep the healer from voicing his suspicions about where the children had been exposed.

It was well known that Molly Weasley frequently communicated with the headmaster of Hogwarts. If she were to go off on a tear demanding answers in regards to the compulsions happening on his watch, well, that'd well and truly tip their hand about the upcoming investigations now wouldn't it?

As it was, she wasn't convinced it would not find its way to Dumbledore's ear soon enough. Which was part of the reason she was now out in the hall searching for Arthur Weasley. Molly had a habit of directing her inquiries to the headmaster regardless of topic, Molly being one of those who ardently believed the mythos which surrounded the old meddler.

Amelia found him a short way up the hallways from the medic's station conversing in a low tone with his oldest son. Both of them looked up as she approached and she cast them an apologetic look. "Sorry to interrupt gentlemen. I have news."

They both straightened expectantly.

"First of all, I should tell you that the healer agrees with me that we should see about getting your daughter to a mind healer. Your wife isn't happy about it, seemed to think that if Dumbledore thought she was fine, that was good enough. It took us pointing out that Dumbledore isn't an accredited mind healer to get her to grudgingly go along with it."

Arthur frowned, but nodded wearily, gesturing for her to continue. "The second issue is this. We found out that your children have all been exposed to a compulsion of some sort." She raised a hand to stall him when he suddenly looked thunderous. "It is being investigated, I assure you. However, I have need of your help with something else."

Arthur gave her an impatient look, "You need me to rein in Molly don't you? Considering how obstinate she's being…"

She nodded, "You and your eldest here if you're both up to it. You see I require that this investigation remain a secret, or at least not public knowledge, for the time being. Same as any other investigation really. As such I need to know that you will keep Molly from discussing the matter with anyone. And yes, that includes Dumbledore." She stated firmly.

Arthur hesitated then nodded, grimacing unhappily. "I understand. And you're right that you will need our help to keep Molly from speaking of it." He conceded. "She doesn't really mean to, but she is something of a gossip and has a wicked temper to boot!"

This statement received a snort from Bill, who nodded in agreement.

Amelia sighed in relief. Arthur might have seemed a bit of a doormat at times. Happily playing the part of henpecked husband in most cases, but Amelia knew full well that he had plenty of steel in him when it truly counted. "Good, now, here's what I think you should do. I feel you should take your daughter straight to Saint Mungo's after leaving here. Don't delay, don't let Molly overthink it and dig in her heels about it again. Your daughter's mental wellbeing isn't something that can be healed by resting at home."

Arthur nodded grimly. "I agree, my daughter's health is more important than Molly's thrice damned pride."

She nodded, "Then, once you've checked her in and are satisfied that she's being taken care of, I need you to take your family home and keep them there for the next few days."

He opened his mouth to protest his family being put into effective house arrest but she explained before he could. "I have a number of investigations in the works right now Arthur, and those compulsions your children have been affected by are definitely a part of that. In the next day, perhaps two, it should all come to a head and you'll be able to do as you please. At that point it should be reasonably safe to be out and about again."

He hesitated, then nodded. "Two days, I won't have my family held prisoner when we've done nothing wrong though."

She nodded conceding the point. "The most important part though is going to be keeping the details of what has been discovered to yourselves for the moment."

Arthur appeared unhappy but sighed, bobbing his head. "I understand, and I'll see to it. Not that I like the idea of not taking the headmaster to task over this…I strongly suspect it, the compulsions, must have happened while at Hogwarts from what you've said. Which says nothing about the issue of Ginny. But I accept that part is best left in your hands. I'll do all that right away, if we're done here?"

She nodded, stepping aside. "Thank you Arthur, I knew I could count on you." She stated warmly.

He inclined his head, before his eyes flicked to something over Amelia's shoulder, causing her to turn. Only to see a disheveled Mad Eye Moody stumping towards her. He appeared distinctly rumpled, his trench coat had a burn on its hem, and he was busily bandaging one of his hands.

"Mad Eye?" She said, brow furrowing. "What—what happened to you? Did Crouch resist during your raid?"

Mad Eye grimaced, a truly terrifying expression to behold on his face it had to be said, "He did more than that lass. Damned house elf concealment charms!" He snarled, "I tell you, when I find out who started blabbing about my eye and them I swear—"

He huffed, nodding to Arthur who took the opportunity to hustle himself and his eldest son through the door into the medic's office, before closing it behind them. "We have Crouch, hell if what Shack told me is correct we have Bagnold too! Not that it was easy going, we've got a bigger problem now though."

At her expectant expression he explained. "Crouch was keeping someone I thought was dead under concealment charms and an invisibility cloak at his manor. One of my boys stumbled over them and in the resulting scuffle lost his wand."

She hissed in displeasure at that, but he pressed on. "He's dead," He stated bluntly. "Junior, yes, that Junior, got a hold of his wand and killed him and the elf trying to keep him hidden. We all came running when we heard the fighting, but he made it out and apparated away. We lost him…."

He huffed tiredly. "Dammit. That filthy Death Eater was supposed to be dead and gone, and now, instead, thanks to whatever it was Barty was doing in that house, Oaks is dead and I've got to tell his family what happened."

Amelia fought down a growl, "Barty Crouch Junior was in that house?"

He nodded stiffly, and she swore effusively under her breath. "Dammit, is Senior in any shape to answer questions?" She demanded.

He nodded sharply, "Yes, we got the drop on him when he went for his wand."

She grimaced, this just got worse and worse, it seemed. The head of international cooperation pulling his wand on Aurors? "Good, get him in an interrogation room, and get me a vial of veritaserum, I'll question him myself. After that, you…well you've got enough to be getting on with." She conceded, and sighed, shaking her head. "Hell of a day Mad Eye. Just when I felt like we were getting a handle on things too!"

She paused considering the ramifications of having a convicted Death Eater on the loose again. "I'll meet you there in a couple minutes. In the meantime…I've got to speak with the Minister and see about getting a warrant put out for Junior. Merlin help us all."

* * *

Shortly thereafter, in a different section of the Ministry, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge found himself smiling at the Egyptian Ambassador. "I'd like to thank you for your assistance in this matter Ambassador Moghadam." He said, offering the man a cup of tea. It would have been a tumbler of bourbon, except that the Ambassador was a pious enough Muslim to abstain from imbibing alcohol. As such it would have been an insult to offer it considering Fudge was well aware of this fact.

The Egyptian man raised his cup in salute, "It was no problem at all Minister Fudge. Mister Pettigrew was a fugitive from the ICW. Even if that state of affairs was new. As such your Hit Wizards had authority to cross borders in pursuit of the villain."

Fudge smiled thinly, nodding calmly. "Still, I know many leaders, your friend Ahmed included, are loath to allow foreign agents to operate on their soil, ICW fugitive or no. That you were able to secure permission so quickly was a boon!"

Ambassador Moghadam nodded genially. "It is true, and the Caliph can be understandably…reticent about such things. After all, such an act could potentially harm the sovereignty of our nation. However, it really was as simply as informing him just whom they were after and why."

Fudge cocked his head at him curiously, so he explained. "Ah, but of course, you might not remember given how long ago it was." The Ambassador allowed graciously. "That self-styled dark lord, the one known as Voldemort—" He began, ignoring the shudder from Cornelius. "He made a habit of recruiting from foreign populaces when possible. One of the groups which he funded in exchange for their support was responsible for the death of the Caliph's wife."

Cornelius' eyes widened in recognition and he nodded hurriedly. "Ah, yes, I remember that now. As I recall they were all hunted down, correct?"

"Indeed," The Ambassador agreed, sipping from his cup.

Cornelius grimaced, "Good, animals. I remember now what they said they'd done to her, the world is better off for their absence in it."

The Ambassador inclined his chin agreeably, "If I may Minister. While the Caliph was able to have those…people, brought to justice. It has never sat well with him that he was unable to truly take a hand in making those who had funded them pay for their audacity."

Fudge nodded, indicating he understood and the other man continued. "So, having the opportunity to aid in the apprehension of a Death Eater was always going to meet with his approval."

Cornelius sipped from his own cup, before setting it down again. "Yes, I can imagine so." He allowed, and the Ambassador smiled ruefully.

"He does however…request, that you, that is to say the British Ministry, not make a habit of things like this. Bagnold in particular had a habit—" he paused slightly here, distaste colouring his tone. "Of running roughshod over the sovereignty of others with the flimsiest of excuses."

Cornelius nodded, "But of course, I can fully understand your government's position in this. I simply—"

There was a knock at the door, and he pulled himself up short, sighing. "Ah, my apologies Ambassador, a moment of indulgence?" The other man inclined his head agreeably and Fudge called out. "Yes, come in!"

His secretary poked her head in through the doorway. "I'm sorry to bother you Minister, but Madam Bones is here to speak with you. She says it is urgent."

He hesitated a moment, wondering what could have happened now, before glancing at the Ambassador, who simply shrugged and nodded easily. "Ah, please, send her in." Cornelius instructed.

It was only a couple moments later that Amelia stepped inside. "We've got a problem Minister," She stated without preamble only to stop when she spotted the Ambassador. "Ah, Ambassador Moghadam, my apologies for interrupting."

The Ambassador waved that off, "It is no problem Madam Director."

She inclined her head in appreciation before looking back to the Minister, who nodded, indicating she should get on with it. "As you know Minister, I ordered Barty Crouch and Millicent Bagnold brought in for questioning…"

He nodded again, though noted that the Ambassador seemed surprised to hear this.

She glanced at the man again, but pressed on when the Minister indicated he didn't care if the man heard this. "Barty resisted, but Bagnold came reasonably quietly. That was not the problem however. Barty was keeping his son concealed and under Imperius curse in his home." She stated, causing his eyes to widen in shock. "When one of the aurors happened upon him by accident he, the auror that is, and the house elf charged with concealing Junior were killed and Junior escaped."

Fudge swore bitterly under his breath, but Amelia continued regardless. "We have a confirmed hardcore Death Eater on the loose. In the wake of the revelations you and I discussed earlier this is very concerning…"

Fudge nodded firmly, eyes already darting back and forth as he considered the political ramifications of this new mess. "Yes indeed, this is most concerning. And we lost an auror in the process?" He asked to confirm what he'd heard. When she nodded he sighed.

"I assume you've put out a warrant for him?" He asked, she nodded and he huffed tiredly. "Good…good, anything you need Amelia, you have it. Make sure he is caught. Who knows what mischief someone like him will get up to!"

She inclined her chin again. "Thank you Minister. I'd actually like permission to put out a bounty on him as well. In the wake of the fiasco with Black, I thought it might be best to show we were taking things seriously."

Fudge frowned, then nodded. "Very well, you have permission. Try not to use up the whole budget on it though!" He cautioned.

She smirked a bit, "Of course not, our budget is already strapped as it is." She glanced to the Ambassador one last time, then nodded once more in Cornelius' direction, before turning to leave. "I'll see to it immediately then."

And without further ado she left. Minister Fudge for his part let out a gusty sigh and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "Just when things were starting to go right too!" He muttered.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm giving Temporal Knight a break from Betaing, he's very busy lately with real life issues as I understand it. Still my thanks goes out to TWilliams, Bonsly24, zcnk and Volksbrot. **Update:** Also thanks to Q Elwyn D and Bonsly24 as of Oct.22.2019.


	8. Unfortunately Short Chapter

**Author's Note:** VERY short chapter I'm afraid, and dishearteningly one which was harder to write than it should be. But more on that after the chapter. I hope you enjoy this offering, despite it's short length. Largely unbetad.

* * *

 **Gringotts Wizarding Bank**

 **Diagon Alley**

Harry blew out a gusty breath "Well, I feel silly."

Sirius barked a short laugh in response. "Don't worry about it pup, so do I." They had been all set to join the Grangers at their home for supper, when it had occurred to the two of them that they didn't have A) a means to use muggle money to pay for a plane ticket, B) Passports to get through customs and security and C) travel clothing.

That last one was the easiest to fix, particularly once they had muggle money. They'd handle that problem tomorrow however. They had enough on their plate for one day as it was.

It was the first two which had the pair of them rushing to Gringotts, once again under disguises, to collect the necessary items and funds.

The wizarding community as a whole was not so large as to require a dedicated dispensary for such things. Gringotts, owning a muggle bank with it's own credit and debit cards took care of that part gladly, for a nominal fee.

They were also one of the two legal distributors of passports in magical Britain. According to Sirius it required a ministry liaison who happened to work with them.

Unfortunately creating the necessary documents took time. Hence the pair of them standing there, waiting at the till for the goblin they'd been dealing with to return.

Harry shook his head, not so easily placated. "I just mean, if we hadn't come here, in all likelihood we'd have run into trouble trying to book tickets, which is fair enough. But why didn't either of remember we'd need passports?"

Sirius shrugged easily, "Quite possibly because it's been years since I've travelled out of country and you've never done so in the first place," he noted dryly.

Harry grunted, "True."

Sirius' passport would likely be the easier to obtain of the two, being as it was a reissue as opposed to a whole new package, as with Harry's.

Anything further Harry could have said was interrupted by a clatter as the goblin returned and clambered up onto his stool behind the counter. The Goblin then proceeded to slap a pair of muggle credit and debit cards on the counter along with the two passports. "I should charge you extra for making me go into that lab Mister Black, Mister Potter." He grumbled.

"Oh?" Sirius asked, curious.

The goblin snorted, "Cracker, the goblin who runs our muggle tech lab is…eccentric to put it mildly. I think he's watched one too many muggle movies involving mad scientists." He paused, considering the pair before him, then shrugged. "The cards come out to five galleons for the both of them. The passports come out to twenty five galleons a piece."

Sirius doled out the appropriate amount from his money purse, "Bit expensive isn't it?"

The goblin nodded, "It's finicky work, the cards have to be made using a muggle contraption which we've enchanted to work despite the high magic in the alley. Thing's still unreliable."

He took the gold and collected it into the appropriate boxes for currency attached to his desk. "The passports are a double feature though. If a magical customs agent activates the rune in the stamp on the inside cover it functions as a magical passport. If it's not activated however it works as a muggle one. And muggle passports are getting more complicated all the time. Like I said, finicky work."

Sirius nodded, collecting the passports and credit cards, checking them over before nodding in acceptance. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Any further business with us today?" The teller asked without preamble.

Sirius considered, then nodded. "I'd like to convert about fifty thousand into pounds and have it deposited into my muggle account."

The goblin quickly set about filing the paperwork. "It'll be done by tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I recommend you use that credit card instead."

They spent the next couple minutes discussing how such cards worked, something Harry had to help a bit with. "Thank you, that's all for tonight I believe."

They nodded thanks to the teller again and departed, never noticing a pair of piercing goblin eyes watching them from the shadows. Ashmaker was about to become even richer…

* * *

Sirius and Harry arrived outside the Granger house which Hermione had provided the address to. Unfortunately this had involved a trip on the much fear Knight Bus, as neither Harry nor Sirius, nor Tonks had been to the Granger house before.

The Granger house was a welcoming sight, a cozy looking two story with a winding garden path up to the door. All three of them shuffled up the steps to the door, only for it to be opened before they could knock.

"That was fast, we just got finished ordering dinner. It should be here in a few minutes," She said by way of greeting, before ushering them inside.

"So, what are we having? If you don't mind me asking that is." Sirius said, shucking his shoes onto the mat set aside for them.

"Chinese food," Hermione reported happily.

Both Sirius and Tonks perked up. "Oh, that should be good. I haven't had Chinese food since…well, it's been years, even before Azkaban. Lily used to order some in on occasion." They glanced then at Harry, to get his reaction.

Harry shook his head, looking uncomfortable. "Never had any before. Uncle Vernon 'couldn't be having' with any of that 'foreign garbage' as he called it," he admitted, getting sympathetic looks from everyone.

"Don't worry Harry, I'm sure you'll love it!" Assured Hermione, sympathetically.

Harry nodded, and followed on as Hermione led them through into the living room. Dan Granger got up off the couch to greet them as they came in.

"Mister Granger, thank you for inviting us into your home," Sirius intoned somewhat formally. Dan just waved that off.

"It was no problem. Do you want to look into getting those tickets now, or after supper?" He paused, checking his watch, then shook his head. "Actually, on second thought, we should probably wait. The food should be here soon enough."

Sirius nodded, then inclined his head towards the TV, "What are you watching?"

Harry glanced over at the screen, it was currently showing an advertisements for baby wipes. "Hm? Oh, it's just gone to commercials, but I was watching a football game between Man U and Liverpool FC. Rivalry match."

Sirius perked up a bit, Harry got the distinct idea he liked sports in general. "Oh? Is it any good so far?"

A dry snort of amusement. "So far, yes. Though I've counted three flops in this match already…"

"Flops?" Sirius asked curiously, apparently not totally up on football slang.

"The bane of football everywhere these days. Basically when a player fakes an injury to get the other team penalized," Dan noted sounding a touch disgruntled, though not with Sirius.

Sirius nodded, "Ah, seen. That once or twice with Quidditch as well. Usually the ref catches it though. It's a double foul for doing it."

Dan cocked his head at Sirius curiously. "Never heard much about Quidditch, know Harry here plays it, thanks to my daughter, but she doesn't really go into details."

Sirius glanced at Hermione who blushed. "Honestly, I only go to the games because Harry plays for our house team."

His godfather just grinned at her and winked. Confusing Harry to no end.

"Well, Dora and I could explain it to you if you want?" Sirius suggested, returning to the matter at hand. "I'd invite Harry to help out, but I think your daughter wants to show him around."

Hermione had indeed been looking a bit antsy, Harry noted dryly. Dan inclined his head in agreement, "I'd like that," he said before looking to his daughter. "You can show him around Hermione, just remember the rules."

She nodded seriously, though Harry saw she again blushed slightly. Harry actually understood the meaning behind this one, he'd heard about such things from other students both at primary school and at Hogwarts. He blushed too. He was sure Dan hadn't intended to, but the reference merely got Harry thinking about being in a compromising position with Hermione.

His friend led him away towards the stairs as he heard Sirius launch into an explanation about the various balls used in Quidditch. "Sorry about that back there, I swear dad says things just to embarrass me sometimes," she grumbled once they were out of earshot.

Harry just shrugged. "He's just concerned about you."

She sighed, "It's not like anyone'd be interested in me that way anyways."

Harry immediately opened his mouth to reassure her, but Hermione had stopped in front of a door, opening it. "This is my room…"

Harry peered inside and smiled. He could hardly see the walls for all the bookshelves. There was a bed off to one side, and a desk by the window.

"You can come in you know? We just can't leave the door closed," she explained.

Harry nodded, understanding and stepped inside. The room was perfect for his friend he decided, and smiled looking at her. "It suits you." She smiled in return.

It was then he noticed a music stand in the corner, and an apparatus of some sort next to it with a violin propped up on it. "You play?" He asked, nodding to the instrument.

She bobbed her head, looking a touch sheepish. "Yes, I used to play a lot more, but I've got other interests now."

He inclined his head in understanding and she nudged him. "Come on, I'll show you some other rooms."

They crossed the hall and she opened another door, allowing them into an art studio. "This is our art studio, I haven't had a chance to work on anything yet this summer though…"

Harry peered around the stark white room, lined with various paintings, drawings, easels and assorted art supplies. "Which are yours?" He asked curiously.

She smiled and pointed out a picture of a castle Harry immediately recognized as Hogwarts. "Of the current batch in here, that one and the portraits on the wall behind you."

Harry turned and regarded the pictures, spotting a sketch which depicted her own face. "It's wonderful, you're really good Hermione," he praised, causing her to blush again. "How come I never knew you were an artist?"

She looked away shyly. "Well, Hogwarts isn't really suited to such work, they don't have an art class or anything like that and appropriate supplies are hard to come by. Besides, I have other things to worry about at Hogwarts generally."

Harry nodded conceding the point, "Yeah, I guess getting petrified or nearly smashed by a troll counts as a distraction."

She rolled her eyes fondly, "More than that Harry, I have to devote a lot of time to ensuring we all do reasonably well on our various assignments and exams."

Harry flushed guiltily, realizing that Hermione spent as much time trying to cajole Harry and Ron into doing their work—well—as she did completing her own assignments. "I'm sorry Hermione, you shouldn't have to spend so much time—"

"It's fine Harry, really…"

It sure didn't feel fine to Harry, but he didn't want to push the matter right then. Still, it really shouldn't have been Hermione's responsibility to ensure he and Ron did well at school.

Hermione led him from the room and he tailed after her still pondering the matter. He wondered briefly why she did it. Why did she feel the need to help him and Ron through their courses? The answer seemed fairly obvious, now that he thought on it. Simple really.

She cared about them, and wanted them to do well for their own sakes. "Harry?"

He gave a start and looked to his friend expectantly.

She shot him a rueful look. "You haven't heard a thing I've just said to you have you?"

He blinked, "Ah—no, sorry. I was off in my own little world right then. What did you say?" He asked.

"I was just pointing out the bathroom if you needed it, and where my parent's room and study are." She explained, patiently. She peered at him closely. "Where did you go just then? What were you thinking about?"

Harry winced a little, then sighed. "Just how you really look after us. Ron and I, I mean. I reckon without you both of us would fail all our classes."

She sighed. "You two just need to learn to apply yourselves. You know the material…well, you do, I'm not so sure about Ron most of the time."

Harry winced. "Maybe, I guess I just—" He paused here to sigh. "I guess I just didn't really think it through — I mean, I've learned not to stick out you know, and Ron's not exactly the best student — but he's my friend too you know, and I don't want him to feel bad." He babbled.

Hermione cocked her head at him, apparently trying to parse through all of that. Finally something seemed to click for her and she got a look of understanding on her face. "You don't want to stand out, not even from Ron…" She looked closely at him now, concern written all over her face. "Why is that?"

Harry sighed. "Well, I mean, I guess it's like I said, I don't want Ron to feel bad and I—"

She raised a hand to stop him. "No, I get that, I think. I mean, why do you not want to stick out academically? Is it the fame thing?"

Harry grimaced, knowing what she was referring to, his antipathy towards his own fame was legendary after all. He shook his head, then paused. "No—well, sort of, I suppose, I don't want any more attention really. It's just it's the way I've always done it. Sticking out was bad, and if I got better marks than Dudley…" He trailed off, looking away.

Hermione's eyes widened, "You mean…Harry, were you punished if you did better than your cousin?" Harry just grimaced and she stepped closer to him. "Harry…please tell me?"

He hesitated, then nodded sharply. "The Dursleys didn't like it if I did better than Dudley, I learned it was better not to stick out."

Hermione frowned at the limited information in that, then looked sympathetic. She stepped forward and pulled him into a quick hug. "Well, you don't have to go back to them now," She said firmly.

"True, I can try harder going forward I guess. I suppose I'll just have to hope Ron doesn't get too stroppy about it," he mused.

She shook her head sadly. "That's not what I meant Harry."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"

"I just meant that it's good that you don't have to go back to those awful people any more. I hate thinking about how they treated you."

Harry blushed, but nodded. He felt warmed by her concern for him. "Thank you, I appreciate it," he said, before blowing out a gusty breath. "I'll still try to do better though. Sirius was telling me about the courses I picked for this year and I think I'll give Divination a miss."

She cocked her head at him curiously. "Oh, why?"

"He said it was basically parlour tricks if you didn't have the sight. Which sounded kind of lame to me…" Harry ventured.

She nodded, chewing her bottom lip in thought. "Well, drat, I'd hoped it would be interesting."

Harry nodded understanding. "I'm going to try for another course. Sirius said Muggle Studies was pretty bad from what my mother told him about it, and mentioned Ancient Runes might be useful…"

"Bad in what way?" She asked.

"The information is all at least a hundred years out of date for one thing." Said a voice behind them, causing the pair to jump and turn to see Sirius was standing there. "Sorry kids, didn't mean to startle you. I was just sent to get you, the food has just arrived."

They nodded, and started towards the stairs. Hermione hummed thoughtfully to herself as they walked. "Well, I may need to consider giving up Divination and Muggle Studies then. They sound disappointing, and quite frankly, I'll have enough to do with the other classes."

Harry nodded, "I'll probably be changing my courses too…when's the deadline on that?"

Hermione paused at the bottom of the stairs. "I think they prefer you to mention it before they hand out the schedules, but even then you can switch if you don't like your choices, for the first week or so at least…"

Harry nodded understanding as they filed into the dinning room.

Now, for a whole new adventure, he mused, eyeing the strange dishes on the table. Trying Chinese food for the first time…

* * *

Ron Weasley was confused. Not an unusual state of being for him really. A lot of things confused him in one capacity or another. His classes at Hogwarts, his siblings, girls, particularly Hermione, other boys, particularly Harry, mathematics…

In this case he was confused because his parents were arguing. Not a common occurrence in their house. For the most part his Dad seemed willing to let his mother take the lead.

Just what they were arguing about was something of a mystery to him, as he really had been more focused on eating his lunch than on what they were saying. Near as he could tell it had to do with Ginny's run in with that Diary and whether or not they should talk to Dumbledore about it again.

His mother had been on a right tear ever since they'd dropped off his sister with the healers at Saint Mungos and left once visiting hours were over.

To his surprise, it appeared that his father had actually won the argument this time, usually it was the other way around, with his mother browbeating his father into submission.

Apparently losing the argument had put his mother in a foul mood however, as she cut off his second—or rather fifth serving of food and sent he and his brothers to their rooms.

Just what they were supposed to have done wrong, he didn't know. Perhaps she was still angry about the man who'd been pretending to be Scabbers? He shuddered at the thought of the rat-man. He tried not to think too hard about it. Maybe she thought they should have figured out he wasn't a rat? That seemed kinda unfair to him, she hadn't realized either.

Either way Ron found himself stumping up to his room in a funk. He barely noticed the letter sitting on his desk, not surprising really considering how little he actually used that desk during the summer.

He did notice it though…and promptly put off opening it. He didn't feel like composing a letter just then, which he'd have felt obligated to do if he read it. Besides, it was just from Harry judging by the scrawl across the front of it. It likely wasn't anything life or death.

He picked up a worn and tattered copy of the book 'Flying with the Cannons' and cracked it open to one of his favourite pages, the one detailing their last win and forgot all about the letter. And so it was that the letter from Harry remained unopened…until his mother bustled in to clean up his room for him again the following morning.

* * *

"So, Tonks, I've been meaning to ask…" Emma Granger said as she wiped a bit at her mouth with a napkin. "How do you get your hair to do that? I've seen it change a few times now."

Tonks swallowed and nodded, "Short answer is that I'm a metamorph. Slightly longer answer, this means I can change my appearance at will."

Hermione gave a little excited bounce in her seat. "Oh! I've read about metamorphs. They're—you are really rare aren't you?"

Tonks smirked, shooting Harry a look. "You might be surprised, but by and large yes, we're not that common."

"Does that mean it's difficult to blend in, with muggles I mean?" Mrs Granger asked.

Tonks shrugged, "Not so much as you'd think, the theory is that my subconscious knows that it wouldn't be safe to have my appearance shift around muggles who aren't in the know, so I unconsciously keep myself in one form."

Mrs Granger nodded and Tonks looked questioningly to Harry, who met her eyes. A silent conversation appeared to pass between them and he shrugged. "I'm not the only metamorph in England right now actually. Turns out Harry's got at least a little of it too."

Hermione looked to Harry in surprise and he nodded, "It used to be that nothing my aunt did could change my hair. Tonks tested me a bit and we found that with a bit of effort I can change it however I want."

He focused for a few moments and his hair changed to brown before switching back again. Hermione smiled. "So that's how you hid your identity in Diagon Alley! I thought it was a glamour or something." She smacked Harry playfully on the shoulder, not noticing the small flinch. "You could have told me you know?"

Harry grinned weakly, "I wanted it to be a surprise?"

She snorted delicately and rolled her eyes.

They had managed to finish dinner by this point, so Emma pushed to her feet. "Hermione, would you mind helping Tonks and I with the dishes. Your father, Sirius and Harry can see to the ticket in the meanwhile…"

Hermione hesitated before nodding slowly. "Of course mum."

She had a sneaking suspicion that her mother wanted to talk to her about something, and she suspected that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be comfortable to discuss.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Alright, so here's the deal, while I can come up with new story ideas like crazy lately, I've been struggling to put one sentence in front of another. I'm honestly not certain what is causing all this. Bad writing habits? My depression and anxiety issues? Burn out? No idea. So it is with a heavy heart I put out this warning, if this writing slump I'm in doesn't let up soon I may need to consider taking a serious break from writing. Put some distance between myself and writing in general until I'm desperate to write again and see what happens. I really do hope my ability to write properly returns soon.

Thank you very much for all the support from the readers. But extra thanks goes to my various betas. Temporal Knight, Volksbrot, twilliams1797, zcnk, mordreek, howinmadhowie and bearmauls (from all those years ago). I'd also like to thank .D for the help with bouncing new story ideas recently.

 **Update:** Also thanks to Q Elwyn D and Bonsly24 as of Oct.22.2019.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Right, here we are, _finally_ , with an update. Sorry it took so long, had some speed bumps in my life you could say. **IMPORTANT NOTE:** I edited and updated/changed the chapters prior to this one somewhat. There may be changes to material you are familiar with. Also, you'd be amazed how difficult FF was being about updating the chapters! It updated some chapters, but not others at first...

* * *

Fawkes watched as Albus Dumbledore slowly paced back and forth across his office carpet. The phoenix watched the way the elderly wizard's eyes flicked briefly to various things about his office as he thought. Most of the objects being nic nacs of no particular purpose, or were something which only Dumbledore himself understood the function of.

The firebird was more interested in the thoughts he was picking up from his longtime companion. The old wizard was currently regretting the limited functions of a particular cluster of baubles on his desk, his hand reflexively crumpling the letter in his hand a little as he brooded.

It was a letter from the wizard's spy at Gringotts, a particularly greedy goblin by the name of Ashmaker. It reported, quite to Albus' consternation, that Harry Potter had been spotted, albeit disguised, in the company of Sirius Black.

 _If only those baubles had included a tracking function of some sort,_ Albus ruminated. Why, he'd have already found Harry long ago and seen to it that he had never come in contact with his godfather…

The wizard sighed, continuing his pacing as the phoenix watched from his perch. Less than ideal, the whole situation was less than ideal, and all the wishing in the world would not change that now. He'd had his reasons for not stepping in when Sirius had not received a trial all those years ago. Most of those reasons boiled down to him being unsure if it would be wise for Harry to be raised by the man given what lay ahead for the lad.

So, he'd remained silent, much to Fawkes' silent displeasure, for what he saw as the benefit of all involved. Harry needed to be a special sort of person to fulfill the destiny the boy had laid out before him after all. That this 'greater good' was not to the benefit of Harry or the boy's godfather was conveniently overlooked.

A few minutes ago, the aged wizard had briefly considered immediately flooing to Diagon Alley to search for the pair. However, he'd rejected the idea. Not only was it unlikely the pair were still there at this time of night, but it would have raised questions as to how Dumbledore had learned of their presence. No good to waste assets in place before he had to after all.

Still, the boy had few joys in his life, Dumbledore supposed. Surely it couldn't hurt the plan too badly to allow Harry some time with his godfather? He had after all hoped to spare the boy's childhood, though at times that hope had seemed to be in vain.

Yes…yes, perhaps it would be alright to let them enjoy themselves for the time being…they'd turn up again, he was sure.

Although, if the lad came to be in possession of any…unfortunate information which could harm the plan laid out for him…well, it wouldn't be the first time he'd modified the memories of another.

On his perch Fawkes gave the phoenix equivalent of a gusty sigh. For a moment there, Albus had appeared to pull himself from the dark thoughts which he strayed to often these days. He'd hoped that perhaps his friend would finally see the error of his ways and make amends.

Albus hadn't always been like this after all, so underhanded and manipulative. He'd once been a man of courage and honour. Indeed, it was the memory of this fact that kept the phoenix at his side. For what else could he do, short of betraying his friend, but try to encourage Albus to turn from the path he'd set himself upon. However, there really was little he could do beyond trying to convince him, mind to mind, of the folly of his actions. In the end, Albus was responsible for his own decisions, and no one else.

* * *

 **Friday, August 9th, 2013**

 **The next morning**

Once again, Harry woke to the mouthwatering smell of cooking pig meat. He bestirred himself to quickly get out of bed and make his way downstairs, where he found Andromeda cooking in the kitchen again.

He knew now that Andromeda actually _liked_ to cook. It was no imposition on his part to not do it himself. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was something he should have been handling in her place as he would have at the Dursleys'.

He cleared his throat uncertainly when he arrived in the kitchen doorway. "Hello…er, good morning, that is," he ventured after a moment.

Andromeda looked up from the meal which she was watching cook on the stove. She smiled brightly at him, and he was struck by just how much it transformed her face. She had rather severe features really. When she was idle and not smiling her express could at times seem rather harsh.

When she smiled, however, it was like she'd become an entirely different woman.

"Hello Harry, good morning to you too!" Andromeda greeted happily. "Care for some breakfast? It's nearly ready and you'll want a good one if you're going to be travelling."

Harry nodded. He had no real personal experience to compare that against, aside from his time on the Hogwarts Express, but he suspected it was true if the healer said it was.

"Yes please," he replied dutifully. He liked Andromeda, which was a good reason to be extra polite to her. Not that he'd have been rude if he didn't, of course. It generally took someone truly appalling to bring out his less than courteous side.

"Four strips of bacon this time?" She suggested, "Just so you have a little more fuel for the day? Ted says that airplane food is rarely any good."

Harry bobbed his head in agreement and she used a spatula to slide four strips of bacon onto his plate. It still surprised him that Andromeda seemed to prefer using muggle methods for cooking. After he'd seen Molly Weasley cook at the Burrow, he'd thought that wizards and witches used their wands for positively everything.

Apparently Andromeda had seen him eyeing the spatula speculatively, chuckled, and shook her head. "I could use my wand of course, but it seldom hurts to actually use the hands and arms God* or the gods gave you for a change."

Harry nodded understanding as she shovelled a serving of hashbrowns and eggs onto his plate as well. "Thank you," he said, before heading to the table when she gestured towards it.

"Go on, have a seat Harry. You might as well dig in, no need to wait on everyone else," Andromeda assured him.

As though summoned by the scent of bacon, first Ted, then Sirius stumbled into the kitchen, both looking rather tired. Ted, because he'd had a long day at work the previous day, and Sirius had been up late with Harry the Grangers. It had been a fairly pleasant evening overall, though it had not escaped Harry's notice that Hermione had been a bit quiet and reserved the rest of the evening.

Soon enough Sirius and Ted were sitting down next to him at the table, plates of food in their hands. "Excited, pup?" Sirius asked as he dug into his own meal.

Harry raised an eyebrow in query at that moniker. "Pup?"

Sirius blinked for a moment, before chuckling. "A side-effect of my animagus form I think. I tend to think of kids as pups. Your mum and dad thought it was hilarious."

Harry smiled at the casual reference to his parents, "You're an animagus then?" Harry asked perking up, thinking of the way Professor McGonagall could change into a cat at will.

Again Sirius stared at him for a moment, before nodding and sighing. "Right, I guess you haven't seen me do that since we met again. Not that you'd remember from before that anyways," he muttered a bit discontentedly. "You used to love when I'd change into Padfoot when you were little. Took you for a few rides on my back now and then."

He paused there, taking a bite of his meal and chewing thoughtfully. "I turn into a dog, which I'm reliably informed looks like a Grim. A magical death omen if you were wondering. Though as far as I can tell, I'm just a rather shaggy mutt with dark fur," He admitted ruefully.

Harry nodded, but any further response he could have made was cut off by the ring of the doorbell, just as Tonks managed to sidle into the kitchen.

Andromeda sighed. "I'll get that. Dora dear, you can serve yourself up some food, just save some for me alright?" She admonished before heading for the front door.

For the second day in a row, when Andromeda returned, it was with Amelia Bones in tow. "This is becoming a habit Amelia, are you sure you don't want to have breakfast with us?" Andromeda teased.

Madam Bones just chuckled and shook her head. "I'm afraid I must decline again, Andromeda. I just need to speak with our travellers here for a bit. Some things have come up and I want to give them something."

She then turned her attention to those at the kitchen table. "Good morning Harry, Sirius, Tonks, I have some news, though we'll get to that in a moment," she assured them, before pulling a box out from under her arm which Harry had overlooked prior to that point, and set it on the table beside Sirius, who leaned over to take a look.

Upon seeing whatever was inside, his eyebrows rose and he looked to Madam Bones questioningly. Harry leaned in, curious about what it was that had caught his attention. He was somewhat perplexed when there was nothing but small hand mirrors in the box.

"As you know, the upcoming investigation into Hogwarts may go on for a while yet. However, I wanted a way to keep you informed of my progress on that front and perhaps even call you home should the need arise."

Ah, so the mirrors had to be magical in some way. Harry supposed he should have suspected that. Sirius certainly didn't seem surprised to learn of their function, so Harry decided he could hold off on asking questions for the moment.

"As for news," Madam Bones began, huffing a light sigh. "Well, I'll have you know I'm currently investigating Bagnold and Crouch. Another matter came up when we raided the Crouch Residence, but you need not worry about that for the time being."

She grimaced, "Both copped to various forms of corruption when interviewed, they know the jig is up and are attempting to rat each other out, hoping to make a deal."

Sirius grimaced, but nodded understanding, so Madam Bones continued. "Which brings me to the last bit of news I suppose." She paused and gave Harry's godfather a long look. "Sirius, we found Peter."

Sirius immediately straightened almost painfully. "You have? Where is he? Is he going to go to trial?" Sirius asked hurriedly, tension tightening his still too-thin shoulders.

Amelia shook her head, "He's dead Sirius. He tried to run from the Hitwizards when they came for him, but he ran afoul of some rather nasty wards."

Sirius blinked, then sagged a bit in his seat, relief sapping the tension from his bones. Harry was mildly surprised to see some tears in the man's eyes, but though he saw something else there as well.

"Dead," murmured Sirius. He shook his head silently for a minute. Harry noticed that Madam Bones and the others were giving Sirius a slightly cautious look.

Finally Sirius straightened a bit and caught the look in the director's eye. "In a way it's definitely a relief. I've hated him for so long, and wished him dead for just as long. It's a relief it's finally over, but…"

Madam Bones cocked her head at him curiously, "But?" She prompted.

Sirius smiled somewhat ruefully at her, "I can't help but remember who Peter used to be. My old friend. The fun, bumbling, and somewhat skittish lad who used to turn into a rat to spook people, and who used to help out with our pranks."

Madam Bones nodded, eyes turning sympathetic. "It's hard to remember that he wasn't always what he'd become before the end," she agreed.

Sirius nodded, apparently pleased she'd understood what he was driving at. "Don't get me wrong though, perhaps it's better that he's gone now. He's been punished for what he did, but he won't be seeing Azkaban. No loose ends, just—perhaps I can get some closure now?"

He paused here, "God," he choked, a bit tearfully now. " _Merlin_ , he hated that form. His rat** I mean. An animagus form indicates something about you it's said. He always used to dwell on what being a rat might say about him. We tried, you know? To tell him not to worry about it, but—well, guess he might have been right to worry."

Sirius surreptitiously dashed away some of the tears in his eyes. "Really is starting to feel like the end of an era now I guess. First James, now Peter…Just me and Remus left now," here he paused, and looked to Madam Bones again. "Any idea where Remus is? I mean…I've wondered, he wasn't raising Harry, for obvious reasons, but…"

Harry couldn't help but wonder who Remus was, and why it'd be obvious that he couldn't have raised him.

Madam Bones sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You know how it is for Remus. He can't hold down a job with his condition," she said with a grimace. "Last I knew he'd headed abroad for a while to finish up his defence mastery, but that was years ago. I haven't heard more than rumours since."

Sirius grimaced, but nodded. "He still should have checked in on Harry…then again, only reason I managed to find Harry at all was because I knew Petunia and wondered if he'd be with her when I couldn't find him elsewhere."

A grumble from Andromeda drew eyes to the healer. "Albus wasn't allowing anyone near him. If Albus refused to tell him, Remus may not have known where to go looking."

Sirius inclined his head in agreement, but it was Madam Bones who spoke up next. "If you want, I'll put out some feelers with a few of our contacts. See if we can't find him."

His godfather nodded his head, smiling weakly in thanks.

"Who's Remus?" Harry asked.

Sirius blinked, looking to Harry in confusion before shaking his head wearily. "Right, seems like I keep forgetting to tell you stuff. Remus is the last of our group of friends besides myself…and Amelia here I guess."

He chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging, "He's a werewolf, which means he has a really bad day or so once a month, but people tend to treat them like they're lepers," he muttered. "We just called him Moony, and we…James, Peter and I all became Animagi because it'd allow us to keep him company on those days without the risk of getting infected."

"Moony, Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail. A werewolf, a stag, a dog and a rat." Sirius murmured, causing Harry to blink, then grin.

"My dad could turn into a stag? That's so cool!" He said.

Sirius chuckled at his enthusiasm, clearly pleased to see it. "Yeah, we thought so too."

Madam Bones smiled wanly at that, before checking her watch and sighing. "Well, I hate to drop all that on you and then dash, but I have work in a few minutes. Sirius, I trust you'll teach Harry how to use the mirrors?"

His godfather nodded, and she smiled again. "Good, then I'll wish you all good luck on your trip. Andromeda…" She said, dipping her chin in a nod to the other woman, before departing the kitchen and heading for the front door.

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence, and Harry only paused again when he placed his dishes in the sink afterwards. "Sirius, do you think I could become an animagus?"

Sirius paused, considering that thought, before shrugging. "Maybe, if you really want to, we could certainly look into it. It's not easy though, and you are just going into 3rd year…" he speculated, looking thoughtful. "Tell you what, you focus on your metamorph stuff with Dora for the moment. But when we get back, we'll discuss the possibility of animagus stuff. I'll need to see about tracking down all our old notes to help us anyways."

Harry nodded, accepting those stipulations. He did indeed have enough to be getting on with.

"Alright you two," Andromeda interrupted fondly. "Best go get washed up and ready for the day. We still have some things to do before you depart."

Sirius snorted in amusement as she worked to herd them from the kitchen, but didn't comment. Harry, Tonks and Sirius each headed to their rooms. Harry spent the next few minutes cleaning up a bit before showering. He had to prepare Hedwig for travel after all, getting her into her cage after cleaning it, and passing her a few owl treats.

He wondered briefly if they would have any difficulty with taking her on the trip with them, but shrugged it off when he recalled that no one else had expressed any doubts. When he packed what little clothing he had into his trunk, he was glad they were going to buy more clothes soon. His castoffs from Dudley were hardly sterling examples of travel wear.

On his way to the shower, he noticed himself smiling in the mirror. The smile soon erupted into a broad grin. He was really starting to get excited about leaving on their trip!

* * *

Halfway around the world, and frankly _very_ late at night—or very early in the morning depending on how one looked at it—an old woman straightened abruptly in her rocking chair in front of the fire.

A strange sense of…something, shivered across her senses, causing her stiffen in the half-light cast by the slowly dying flames. Something important.

She hadn't felt a sense of foreboding this intense since…well, it had been a _very_ long time, and it had been _very_ bad.

She paused her rocking before huffing a sigh and pushing to her feet, ignoring the aching in her bones. Grabbing up a smudge stick from its basket by the fire, she quickly ignited the stick and waved it about herself. This was as much to ward off the feeling of foreboding which plagued her, as it was to cleanse the area around her of negative influences. Finally, she paused briefly as the last of the stick begins to burn away, taking a deep cleansing breath.

Incense. Not a _traditional_ aromatic for a smudge stick, but a fairly common one these days…She settled back down into her chair, causing it to creak a bit. Another cleansing breath and—

A flash of something. She wasn't a seer, not in the traditional sense of the term. Or, at least, not as the _Europeans_ understood the term.

It was brief, but conveyed all it needed to. Flashes of conflict and change played across her visions and—

"Strange," she muttered, cocking her head curiously. "I could swear I've seen eyes like that before…"

* * *

The waiting room in Saint Mungos' artifact accidents ward was…less than stellar. An uncomfortably tight space located close to the triage area, the room was an afterthought in the design of the building. The architects had assumed that the majority of people waiting for news would either remain in the main reception area or wait at home where they could be contacted quickly by floo.

Not that this really mattered that much to Molly Weasley. She was so focused on her ruminating, that her tea had gone cold and that she'd almost entirely failed to notice a man who was wheeled into the ward for treatment talking loudly about how he'd just suffered a 'magical potato battery' related incident.

She was alone, though she was sure that wouldn't last for long. They had after all been told to show up early this morning. Arthur had booted her out of the house in the wee hours after her fretting and pacing had kept many in the house up late.

Here, by herself and in the privacy of her own head, she had to admit it might have been a bit excessive to try and clean Ronald's room while he was still sleeping in it.

"You're doing no one any good here. Go, we'll meet you closer to the time they told us to show up," Arthur had said as he gently ushered her out the door.

Meanwhile, the healers had had the audacity to actually refuse to let her see her own daughter!

"She is in the midst of some intensive evaluations Missus Weasley. Seeing you now would only interfere with our diagnosis. Please, wait in the lounge until you are called for."

It had to be one of the more polite smackdowns she'd endured in her life.

Still, she had a number of things on her mind, each slowly driving her crazy. First, and foremost, of course, was that her daughter was in the hospital. However, that was closely followed by the fact they'd apparently had a _Dark Wizard_ in her house for the last 12 or so years. Disguised as a pet rat.

A rat which had frequently been allowed to sleep in the same bed as some of her children. She shuddered, trying not to think on that…

Adding to her worries, was the letter she'd found in her youngest son's room. Apparently he'd utterly forgotten about it since the previous day. Though that might have just been how muddled he was by being woken in the middle of the night about it, Molly reflected a touch guiltily.

Harry Potter…poor boy. She _knew_ those Muggles were not fit to raise him but, _really_! She was glad in a way that Harry had sent that letter to Ron, telling him what was happening on his end. But honestly? Sirius Black? What was the lad thinking?

Never trust a Black! She didn't care that both her and her husband were related in various ways with that clan. The latest crop of that dark family had been a bad lot, one and all.

Oh, the worst of them was still in Azkaban. Mad Bellatrix Lestrange. Still, even if Sirius _hadn't_ betrayed the Potters, something she was still doubtful of, this morning's Prophet Article or no. He'd hardly been there for young Harry now had he?

She'd speak with Dumbledore about all this when she got the chance, just you see if she didn't!

She wasn't sure what to make of the survival of Peter Pettigrew either…Which of course brought her back to the fact she'd had a Dark Wizard in her house for a dozen years.

She tried to distract herself from that thought, glancing warily at the door to the room where they were examining her daughter. She would do anything for her daughter, of course. What self-respecting mother wouldn't? Well—if it was _needed_ that was. But this wasn't necessary surely? She had already gotten an expert opinion, Dumbledore had made it perfectly clear that Ginny was going to be perfectly alright!

But no, Madam Bones couldn't keep her nose out of it and had worried her husband and eldest son over nothing…

Finally, the door to the ward opened, breaking her out of her ruminations. Arthur had finally appeared, Bill at his shoulder.

"Anything yet?" Arthur asked, foregoing any greeting, weariness stooping his shoulders.

She frowned mightily. "No, they won't tell me anything," She huffed. "Bunch of quacks…"

Arthur merely sighed as her mini-tirade fell off into discontented grumblings. He shared an exasperated look with Bill as he and their son seated themselves across from her and the room descended into an uneasy silence.

Mercifully, it was only a short time later that a woman in lime green healer's robes appeared in the doorway. A short, Kindly looking woman, she smiled benignly at the Weasleys present. "Hello, you'd be the Weasley family, yes?"

Molly opened her mouth to snap at the woman, but Arthur spoke before she got the chance. "Yes, good morning Healer. Might we ask how Ginny is doing?"

Molly settled back discontentedly as the woman smiled slightly at Arthur. "Well, we're not out of the woods yet of course, but we know a lot more now," the healer assured the worried father. "Your daughter's prognosis is good, I'll lead with that. She will recover, now that we have a plan for treatment."

Molly harrumphed, but was ignored as the witch continued unfazed by her apparent bad mood. "We confirmed Madam Bones' worries however. Your daughter was indeed exposed to a class 7 Dark Magical Artifact. It badly scarred her mindscape and has had additional deleterious effects on her mental health."

Molly scowled and scoffed more loudly this time. "What nonsense, Dumbledore already told us that she is fine, this was a waste of—"

Apparently Molly's bad attitude had finally managed to irk the healer as the woman's eyes flashed and she pinned Molly with a surprisingly lethal looking glare. "With _respect_ Missus Weasley, Albus Dumbledore is _not_ a healer," The woman cut across her, "He has never attended an accredited Healer's college, anywhere, and he most c _ertainly_ did not complete the necessary apprenticeships in Mind Healing to make that kind of diagnosis!"

The witches' glare and authoritative tone caused Molly to wilt somewhat, "In fact, quite frankly, I'm _appalled_ that he had the audacity to try and diagnose your daughter at all. Given that he has no qualifications of any kind in the matter. Not only that, he clearly overlooked a number of serious mental instabilities!"

Arthur put a quelling hand on Molly's shoulder and gave her a firm look. "What kind of mental instabilities?" Arthur asked carefully.

The healer settled somewhat, and nodded calmly. "Would I be correct in stating that your daughter has something of a long held fancy for Harry Potter?"

Arthur frowned in consternation, but nodded. "Yes, of course, but what has that got to do with—"

The healer sighed, "Whatever that object did to her, it enhanced or…exacerbated her underlying interest into outright obsession. Definitely not the kind a girl her age should normally have for a member of the opposite gender."

The healer shook her head. "Her new found obsession was already creeping towards the dangerous. Your daughter admitted during the examination that she wouldn't think twice about using underhanded methods of gaining his interest, and had already considered using love potions."

Arthur paled here, and Bill leaned forward to fill the void in the conversation. "What sort of underhanded methods? You already mentioned love potions…"

Here the woman grimaced. "The tamest of them would have been various forms of verbal manipulations, but she readily admitted that if she thought it would get his attention she'd have considered sexual manipulations."

Molly felt herself pale at that. The healer carried on regardless. "What is worse is that the obsession was deepening. If he had rejected her interest there is a good chance she might have one day turned violent. If not necessarily against him, then against any she perceived as a rival."

As she allowed that to sink in, the healer straightened her robes slightly. "Another matter, and I understand this may be uncomfortable, but your daughter feels a great deal of pressure from her mother. While this is largely unrelated to the artifact she encountered, it _did_ worsen the effects of this pressure. Where normally she might have been able to handle it, her scarred mindscape is causing her to take any criticism from you very deeply to heart Missus Weasley."

At their questioning looks the woman explained, "She's convinced she's shamed her family by falling into the artifact's influence. She believes that the only way to gain her mother's approval now is to get Harry Potter. Furthermore, she thinks that she nearly blew that option out of the water with her involvement with the artifact."

Everyone else stared at her as Molly blustered in the face of that. Surely not, she'd never, well—perhaps she had been a tad harsh on the girl when she'd come home but—

The healer shrugged, "This may very well be an inaccurate assumption on her part, but it does point out a potential issue which may need to be handled at some point. Which I suppose brings us to the final issue."

The Weasley family waited patiently, or in the case of Molly _impatiently_ for the healer to continue. "While we've purged the worst of the Dark Magical residue from your daughter's mind, she has and will likely continue to have nightmares for quite some time."

The woman shrugged here, "All of this can easily be treated now that we've cleaned out the source of the problem, but it will take time. She'll need to attend mind healing sessions once a week."

Molly was immediately all over that, "How can we pay for all of this though? Mind healers aren't cheap, Arthur, and—"

The healer cut her off before she could get a full head of steam, "If the healer we were sending her to were a privately operated one, that might be true. However, if she gets her healing here, via the Hospital that is, it is covered by donations and government funding."

Molly opened her mouth to protest that they were not a charity case, when Arthur silenced her with a flick of his wand. "Thank you Healer…" he trailed off allowing the woman a proper introduction.

"Brown," the woman supplied readily.

Arthur nodded, "Healer Brown, I appreciate this very much. We'll certainly avail ourselves of the Mind Healer's services in this case," he assured the woman, giving his wife a hard look now. Arthur Weasley struck many as a soft touch, but when the time came he had a spine of steel even Molly knew not to challenge. It appeared one of those times was upon them.

Arthur then looked to the Healer again. "Can we see our daughter now?"

The Healer smiled, "Of course, just follow me."

The three Weasleys followed her from the room and across to the door leading to their daughter and sibling's room. "Now, she's had a long night so she'll be tired, but you are welcome to stay with her as long as she's okay with it—"

* * *

 **A few hours later:**

Harry and Hermione came to a stop in the midst of the chaos of Heathrow's international check-in area, watching briefly as dozens of passengers and agents went through the motions of checking baggage and issuing boarding passes.

At a tap on her shoulder Hermione turned and gave each of her parents a hug. "Now, honey, I know you're excited by all the reading you'll get to do with it, but we don't want you spending all your time on the laptop," Emma chided gently.

Hermione blushed a bit, smiling ruefully, but nodded. Harry had borne witness to her parents giving her one of the older laptops from their practice. They'd apparently seen fit to load it with several e-books to help keep their daughter occupied.

It made sense really. None of the travellers could bring their trunks with them into the cabin of the airplane, even with all the enchantments on them to make sure the airline staff wouldn't pay them much mind.

Still, it was good to see Hermione a bit more like her usual self again. She'd been acting strangely since the night before. She'd even been a tad odd during their brief shopping expedition on the way to the airport, Harry reflected. Given to blushing at odd moments and being less physically affectionate than was her usual.

Harry was drawn from these thoughts by Hermione replying to something her mother had said while he'd not been paying attention. "I know mum, and I promise to mind my manners."

Emma nodded seriously, "Good, then I'll say no more on the matter. I do want you to call us when you get to your destination though. Let us know how it all went—well, assuming it's not in the middle of the night here when you arrive that is."

Harry spotted Tonks checking her watch and frowning. "I hate to break this up," she said, sounding honestly remorseful, "But you said they wanted us to start checking in our luggage at least an hour and a half before take off…"

Emma nodded, backing away from her daughter slightly. "Of course. We should let you go then I suppose."

"Bye honey, have a good trip," Dan said, before they departed.

Checking in their luggage was both more and less exciting than expected. It turned out there was a squib on staff at the airport who recognized Hedwig for what she really was. A post owl, and for a moment there it looked like they might experience some difficulties because of this. However, the squib just waved off their concern.

"It's no problem," He assured them, it happens more often than you might think. You'd be surprised how many of the veterinary staff here are squibs or muggles in the know."

Airport security itself was somewhat more complicated. Harry and Sirius watched nervously as one of the young men tending the security counter looked at his godfather's passport, then back at Sirius, who was now shifting back and forth on his feet uncomfortably, before once again staring at the passport and running it through the scanner again.

Finally, the man stood from his chair. "A moment, I just need to check something." he muttered before hurrying over to his supervisor and showing her the passport. The woman examined the passport herself before pacing over to a computer behind her counter and checking something on it.

After several minutes the woman returned and spoke with the younger agent in a hushed voice, causing him to nod.

The agent returned, appearing significantly more friendly. "Apologies sir, your face was familiar, I just needed to check with my supervisor to make sure nothing was amiss."

Sirius nodded calmly, "Understandable," he assured the other man.

The agent smiled thinly. "Can't be too careful in this day and age, not since nine-eleven."

Sirius just nodded, though Harry could tell he clearly didn't get the reference in the slightest. Even Tonks seemed honestly confused. Another reminder of how detached the Wizarding World could be at times.

It was a few minutes later, that Sirius asked Harry and Hermione what the agent had meant. Harry knew what it referred to of course, but had remained silent hoping Hermione would explain it.

She'd just shaken her head. "It refers to September Eleventh, Two-Thousand-and-One. Not really wise to discuss it in detail in an airport though. It might panic other passengers. I'll tell you more later, if you want."

* * *

 **Ministry of Magic**

 **DMLE Conference Room #3**

Amelia bumped the door to the conference room open with her hip. Once more balancing a pile of files under one arm and her cup of coffee in her free hand.

As she entered the various aurors present looked over from their various conversations, before straightening to a sort of attention.

She made her way over to the table at the centre of the room, absently nodding to those present before putting down her stack of files. She waved negligently at them, "At ease people."

The gathered aurors relaxed slightly. Or at least, they did as much as was possible for aurors in a meeting which was promising to be an important one. Every one of the aurors present were either a team leader or an assistant head to one.

Gawain Robards, Rufus Scrimgeour, Leon Savage, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, Connie Hammer and Hestia Jones. A fairly good bunch.

"As you should all be aware by now, the department has been handed a rather large workload these last few days," She began, settled back on her heels a bit. Noting the occasional nod or rueful smile in agreement. "I brought you all here together today to give you an update on matters across the board."

This seemed to meet with approval, so she nodded. "First off, Lucius Malfoy's trial has been arranged and will occur on Monday at 10:00 am. Right after that will be the trials of Bartemius Crouch senior and Millicent Bagnold."

She heard Jones huff, and mutter. "Seems they'll be getting the trials that they denied Sirius Black."

Amelia nodded in wry agreement, as did several others who were present. "The analysts expect both of those last two to be convicted with little difficulty, given the particular…bent of the wizengamot at present. Not to mention the veracity of the evidence we have against them. The trial against Malfoy is anticipated to be more difficult." Huffing a sigh, she took a sip of her coffee. "Otherwise, I'm sure you've all heard about the Pettigrew incident by now, so I'll not belabour the point. Which really just leaves me requiring an update from you Kingsley. What is the status of the investigation regarding the Dursley family?"

Kingsley straightened a bit upon being addressed directly. "The investigation itself is complete. However, we're experiencing a bit of an administrative bottleneck regarding transferring them into the custody of muggle authorities."

Amelia nodded thoughtfully, "I'll speak with my contact on that end of things and see if we can't get that sorted out."

Kingsley shrugged, "Other than that, the case is as close to airtight as we can make it. The evidence against them is overwhelming."

Some of the others grimaced at that, and Amelia reflected that they'd likely heard at least a little about the investigation thus far. At the very least they knew that the muggles in question were guilty of abusing a child in their care.

"Very good," She assured him, before pressing onward. "Which I suppose brings me to the next matter, the one which I've been largely been keeping close to my vest as it were. Just in case any of the details were to leak to those implicated in the crimes in question."

Aurors were by nature a curious lot, so those present perked up at the promise of more information. "Hogwarts," She said bluntly, causing a few of them to wince. "It seems the Headmaster there, the Chief Warlock, has decided that he can get away with failing to report major incidents which occurred during both of the two previous years of schooling."

There was a fair amount of surprised blinking at that. "I will spare you the precise details for now, as I have here a number of briefings for each of you. Just to catch you up on everything in the whole sordid affair," She said, patting the stack of folders she'd brought with her. "In short, however, we will be approaching the school's board of governor's shortly to inform them of what is about to occur. Namely, a full investigation into the running of Hogwarts."

Kingsley cleared his throat and Amelia looked to him expectantly. "Is that even possible boss? I mean, traditionally Hogwarts has been exempt from Ministry oversight."

Amelia nodded, silently reflecting that Kingsley was somewhat close with Albus Dumbledore. "Normally that would indeed be the case, yes. However, after being presented with the evidence involved, the Minister himself has decided to authorize an investigation. This will mean detaining, at least temporarily, both the staff and headmaster of the school while the investigation is ongoing."

Here she looked at a certain somewhat leonine auror. "Rufus, I have a particular mission for you in all this."

Scrimgeour straightened a bit sharply, looking expectant. "I need you to liaise with the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures, and get together a team to clear out an Acromantula nest, to ship them back where they came from."

Rufus blinked at her, looking a touch confused, so she explained. "It seems the Headmaster has allowed a nest of them to crop up in the Forbidden Forest. I trust I do not need to tell you what an acromantula's preferred prey is?"

He shook his head, looking a touch green. "No director, I apologize, I was just surprised is all. I will see to that immediately upon leaving here."

She nodded, satisfied with that for the moment. "Very good, as for the rest of us, after shutting down the school's access to the floo network, we will proceed to take custody of the facility and it's faculty. The faculty will then be placed under house arrest at the school with tracking bracelets. With the warning, of course, that should they violate the terms of their arrest they will be seen as fugitives."

A tentative hand in the air drew her attention, and her eyes cut to Hestia Jones. "Er—I hate to butt in on another auror's territory—" She began casting Scrimgeour an apologetic look. "But how in the world will we transport a whole colony of man eating spiders back to Borneo?"

 _That's right, they're from that part of the world aren't they?_ Amelia mused, before replying. "That will be part of Rufus' job with the DCMC," She said firmly, but Jones didn't appear entirely convinced.

"I'm just saying, I can't see it being easy to just 'ship' them all back home without incident," the blonde said.

Rufus appeared unruffled by it all and waved negligently, "I have some thoughts on that. Don't worry Jones."

Amelia nodded in satisfaction, as Jones settled a bit. "Very well, I have here some plans for entering Hogwarts, but I could use your collective opinions on it all—"

The aurors gathered round as she began handing out the briefings. This was going to be big, and none of them wanted to miss out on what was about to happen. One way or another, they reasoned, what happened at Hogwarts would be important. Best to be there at the front right?

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** There it is, hope you enjoy it. Really fought me getting this far, but hopefully things will pick up from here. Thank you to my betas for this chapter Q Elwyn D, Volksbrot and Bonsly24.

 ***** There are numerous times in canon where JKR used terms which suggested at Christian influence. The most obvious of these being Christmas time and Sirius singing God Rest ye Merry Hippogryphs. However there are a few times that the phrase 'Good Lord' is used as well for example.

 ****** I've wondered for some time if knowing his form was a rat shaped Pettigrew's personality somewhat. If, because of it, he came to see the cowardly, snivelling, backbiting little rodent he became in himself. And thus became that in full. It's hard to see something admirable in a rat. Perhaps if he'd focused on other aspected, their fearlessness in the face of threats to their nest and family, or their vicious tenacity in a scrap, he might have turned out differently?


End file.
